For Immediate Release
Contact: Laura Zaks
National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
lzaks@sustainableagriculture.net
Tel. 347.563.6408
Release: Updated NSAC Report Illustrates Minimal Impact of Crop Insurance Subsidy Caps on Farms
Addendum Bolsters Original Report Projecting Billions Saved
Washington, DC, October 6, 2022 –– Today, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) published an updated version of a special report projecting billions in taxpayer savings over 10 years if modest payment caps are instituted on subsidized discounts for farmers who purchase crop insurance. The updated report includes an addendum that features several projections demonstrating the real impact of payment caps outlined in the original report: An Economic Analysis of Payment Caps on Crop Insurance Subsidies, first published in July 2022.
“A federally subsidized farm safety net is an important feature of agriculture’s risk management strategy,” said NSAC Policy Specialist Billy Hackett. “But common-sense caps on otherwise unlimited payments to private insurance companies and the largest industrial farms are necessary to level the playing field for family farms, promote natural resource stewardship, and secure a better deal for American taxpayers.”
The addendum illustrates the minimal impacts that introducing a simple payment cap of $50,000 or a scaling limit based on value of production would have on farms. The example farms in Iowa, Montana, California, Arkansas, and Texas represent different ways that subsidies received would – or would not – change for various agriculture operations, including corn and soybean, wheat, rice, cotton, and mixed farms of varying sizes and coverage levels.
The report was written by Dr. Eric J. Belasco, a professor of agricultural economics at Montana State University who specializes in the study of federal agricultural support programs and risk management.
“While these examples illustrate the impact of cap scenarios on very large farms, it is also abundantly clear that small and mid-sized farms are rarely impacted,” writes Belasco. “It is also shown that while very large farms are impacted by some cap scenarios, they still receive substantial subsidies in those scenarios.”
Less than three percent of American farms on average would be impacted at all by any of the proposals included in the original report.
Read the full report here.
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About the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC)
The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition is a grassroots alliance that advocates for federal policy reform supporting the long-term social, economic, and environmental sustainability of agriculture, natural resources, and rural communities. Learn more and get involved at: https://sustainableagriculture.net