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Concerns voiced on crop insurance draft

Concerns about the USDA’s final draft of the Standard Reinsurance Agreement for crop insurance protection cropped up during a House Ag Subcommittee reviewing 2008 Farm Bill safety net programs.

Kansas Republican Jerry Moran says the third draft released late last week had some surprises, “I am particularly concerned about the new method of administering and operating – a new and more rigid cap on agent commissions. And, they have inserted other miscellaneous provisions that have never appeared in previous drafts.”

Subcommittee chairman Leonard Boswell of Iowa says he understands the tight budget but “tight budgets do not mean that we jeopardize the risk management tools that we have today or put into question what improvements we must make in the future.”

USDA Under Secretary Jim Miller says the draft was compiled with input from stakeholders and he believes the resulting six-Billion dollars in cuts is appropriate – in light of the federal budget deficit.

Four Billion will go to overall deficit reduction, while the remaining two Billion, Miller says, will be used to bolster programs, such as the pasture rangeland pilot that USDA wants to make national, “This can have significant benefits to livestock producers, particularly in the Great Plains where a significant amount of our cattle industry resides.”

Miller says they’re also working on a “good experience” discount for crop insurance premiums in the future with part of that two billion. And, the other key area is bolstering conservation efforts – such as the Conservation Reserve Program, or CRP.

FSA director Jonathan Coppess told lawmakers that CRP signup is expected to begin around mid-August.