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Ag econ professor says safety net has holes

A farm management specialist says there are holes in the current farm safety net.  Payments to those enrolled in the Agriculture Loss Coverage-County (ARC-CO) program were more likely in the program’s first couple of years, said Michael Langemeier at Purdue’s Center for Commercial Agriculture.

“But as the program got closer to 2017 and 2018, the way the program was set up the payments were expected to relatively small,” Langemeier told Brownfield Ag News Monday, “and that’s what we’ve seen.”

Crop insurance kicks in when there’s a large drop in either yield or price, said Langemeier, but the price drop from spring to fall has to be large.

In spite of that, said Langemeier, crop insurance is effective.  He also says the safety net will be viable if the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) and ARC-CO programs are updated to reflect today’s commodity prices.

AUDIO: Michael Langemeier (6 min. MP3)