Since January, the Senate has been holding confirmation hearings for President Trump’s cabinet nominees. On Thursday, March 23, the Senate Agriculture Committee held its confirmation hearing for Trump’s pick for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary, Sonny Perdue, the last of Trump’s cabinet nominees to be vetted by the Senate. The Committee will soon schedule […]
crop insurance
Path to the 2018 Farm Bill: Commodities and Crop Insurance
Editor’s Note: As a lead up to the 2018 Farm Bill, around which discussions and debate in Congress have already begun, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition is previewing some of the major programs and policies advocates need to know in order to effectively engage. The third post in our series, “Path to the 2018 Farm […]
How Can Agriculture Address the Growing Economic and Environmental Pressures of Climate Change?
The devastating consequences of climate change threaten our natural resources, food security, and the productivity and economic viability of farming operations. Agriculture has an important role to play in helping us mitigate and adapt to climate change, and as we approach a major administrative transition and early discussions around the 2018 Farm Bill, the connection between agriculture […]
More Farmers Are Seeking Risk Management Options That Encourage Crop Diversity
In only its second year on the market, sales of Whole-Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP) insurance have nearly doubled – from 1,110 policies in 2015 to 2,143 in 2016. This is great news for a relatively new risk-management product still technically in its pilot phase. The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) was a major proponent of […]
Farm Bill Income Cap for Program Payment Eligibility Affects Few Farms
Editors Note: This is a republishing of a recent article by Ron Durst and Robert Williams, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (ERS) Amber Waves magazine. The use of means tests in federal entitlement programs, using income levels to determine eligibility for funds, is a common –if not controversial– practice. For decades, […]
Have Access Improvements to the Federal Crop Insurance Program Gone Far Enough?
If you’re an onion farmer in Louisiana or a blueberry farmer in Iowa, the answer is most likely – no. The Federal Crop Insurance Program has gone through a host of changes since 2000 (the last time Congress passed a major stand-alone overhaul of the program), including several as part of the 2014 Farm Bill, […]
Inter-Agency Blockages Threaten to Halt Further Progress on Organic Crop Insurance
Editor’s Note: For more information on the state of organic agriculture, see this article’s sister post: “Consumer Sentiment and Supply Scalability Will Determine Future of Organic Price Premiums“ In just one year’s time, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Risk Management Agency (RMA) has more than doubled the number of organic crops that are able to […]
USDA Report Shows Organic Crop Insurance Losses Roughly Track Conventional
Organic producers, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Organic Program (NOP), are limited to farming according to a set of practices and standards that must demonstrate a commitment to protecting natural resources and conserving biodiversity. They also may only use NOP-approved substances (e.g., herbicides, fertilizers, etc.). Given organic agriculture’s adherence to a more […]
$8.7 Million Available for Risk Management Education and Targeted States Programs
The Federal Crop Insurance Program, managed by the Risk Management Agency (RMA), provides subsidized coverage through private insurance companies to over $100 billion worth of agricultural products across 298 million acres. Despite a seemingly high level of farmer participation overall, many underserved, organic, diversified, and specialty crop farmers lack information about and access to insurance […]
The Contract Price Addendum: A Good Risk Management Tool for Certified Organic and Transitioning Producers?
The Risk Management Agency (RMA) has recently announced an important update to the Contract Price Addendum (CPA) — transitioning to organic acres will now be eligible. With this change have come a flurry of questions about CPA and how it works, including “What are CPAs?”, “Is my crop eligible for this?”, and “Should I use […]
Can USDA Support for Transitioning Organic Crops Spur the Market?
Interest in organic products has boomed over the last several years, between 2004 and 2016 sales of organic food more than tripled (from $11.1 billion to $39 billion), but farmers are finding it difficult to keep up with demand. Part of this difficulty stems from the time and expense of transitioning farmland from conventional to […]
Study Supports Crop Insurance Reform
A study by Milliman Inc., released by the USDA last Friday April 2, determined that the return on equity for crop insurers in the Federal Crop Insurance Program was 26.4 percent in 2009, well above the reasonable rate of return for 2009, 10.7 percent. National Crop Insurance Services responded to the study on Monday, criticizing […]