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Bean and beet growers outline crop insurance needs
Specialty crop farmers say crop insurance is the only option to protect their farms during challenging years.
“We buy crop insurance, and we pray we don’t need it.”
Michigan farmer Greg Ackerman represented the U.S. Dry Bean Council during this week’s Senate Ag Committee farm bill hearing.
“For dry beans in particular, they’re not covered anywhere else other than crop insurance, he says. “If we have a complete disaster, then ad hoc kicks in.”
Minnesota grower Neil Rockstad serves as the American Sugarbeet Growers Association Vice President.
“Our producers are exposed to severe weather disruptions and while our farmers do have some insurance products available, those are not as well developed or affordable as they are for some of their commodities,” he explains. “For sugarbeets, policies are limited to yield-based coverage, and they do not benefit from a revenue-based product.”
And he says loan rates for raw and unrefined sugar have not kept up with actual costs.
“Operating margins for our producers are being squeezed due to rising input costs,” he shares. “For example, farmers today are paying 87 percent more for diesel fuel and 141 percent more for fertilizer than they did compared with December 2018.”
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