Peace Garden 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 strengthening crop insurance for farmers. The Federal Agriculture Risk Management Enhancement and Resilience (FARMER) Act seeks to make higher levels of coverage more affordable. This initiative is supported by Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman and 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 measure is intended to enhance affordability and reduce reliance on ad-hoc disaster assistance in the future. Additionally, it aims to improve the Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) by increasing premium support and expanding coverage levels. The bill also directs the Risk Management Agency (RMA) to study ways to improve SCO effectiveness in large counties.

An important aspect of this legislation is that it does not require producers to choose between enhanced crop insurance coverage or participating in Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs. This provision offers farmers flexibility in decision-making.

“Crop insurance remains the number one risk management tool for our farmers, but it doesn’t provide the kind of affordable coverage options that all producers need," stated Senator Hoeven. "The result has been the repeated need for ad-hoc disaster assistance. Ultimately, producers buying higher levels of coverage will lessen the need for ad-hoc disaster assistance in the future."

The proposal has garnered support from numerous agricultural organizations including the American Farm Bureau Federation and various grower associations across different states.