Central ND News

Senator John Hoeven, a senior member of the Senate Agriculture Committee and Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee, has reintroduced legislation aimed at enhancing crop insurance and making higher levels of coverage more affordable for producers. The bill, named the Federal Agriculture Risk Management Enhancement and Resilience (FARMER) Act, is cosponsored by Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman along with Senators Mitch McConnell, Joni Ernst, Cindy Hyde-Smith, Roger Marshall, Jim Justice, Chuck Grassley, Deb Fischer, and Jerry Moran.

The FARMER Act proposes to increase premium support for higher levels of crop insurance coverage. This aims to enhance affordability while reducing reliance on ad-hoc disaster assistance in the future. It also seeks to improve the Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) by increasing premium support and expanding coverage levels to offer producers an additional layer of protection. Furthermore, the act directs the Risk Management Agency (RMA) to study ways to improve SCO's effectiveness in large counties.

A key aspect of the legislation is that it does not require producers to choose between purchasing enhanced crop insurance coverage or participating in existing programs like Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC). This provides farmers with greater flexibility in decision-making based on their operational needs.

Senator Hoeven emphasized that "crop insurance remains the number one risk management tool for our farmers," yet it lacks affordable options necessary for all producers. He added that purchasing higher levels of coverage could decrease future dependency on emergency spending by providing greater certainty for farmers and contributing to a resilient agricultural economy.

The bill has garnered support from several organizations including the American Farm Bureau Federation, American Soybean Association, Crop Insurance Professionals Association, National Corn Growers Association among others. Further details about the legislation are available online.