Crop Insurance

New Crop Insurance Company Leverages Data to Help Growers Better Understand Risk

Mon, 17 Nov 2025 20:30:51 GMT

Andrew Burdock, CEO of Insure.ag, says he saw a strong need for specialty crop growers to have data to make better decisions on the amount of risk they undertake with a crop insurance policy. Burdock, a co-founder of Aerobotics, which uses drone and phone imagery to provide farming insights, says he also saw this need as crop insurance adjusters used Aerobotics’ insights to gain better data.

“We saw a real opportunity to, instead of doing the inspections and doing essentially audits for crop insurance companies, we could go back to our core, which was working with growers — and instead of using this data for the audits, use it for the grower to set up this crop insurance policy,” he says. “Because what we’re seeing was a lot of these numbers in these crop insurance policies were incorrect.”

Burdock says that growers might take a policy out for 1,000 acres, but there might be declining trees, pump houses, wells or missing trees that would impact claims.

“A lot of these guys had 100% stand in their policies,” he says. “It was leading to issues when a claim came around and the adjuster came out, and then there was an argument about what was in the policy upfront. We saw an opportunity, really, to become a crop insurance broker using our data to help growers put the policies together.”

Burdock says this is what started Aerobotics Crop Insurance Solutions (ACIS), which Burdock has now purchased and spun off into its own entity, Insure.ag.

“We built up quite a significant customer base there, and we’ve really helped mainly large growing groups where the guys have got 20,000 acres — very difficult to manage that crop insurance policy,” he says. We’ve always really wanted to grow this thing out. I think we’ve piloted pretty much well inside Aerobotics and it came to a point where we needed to grow the team and really like take this thing to the next level. Over the past year, I’ve been out trying to raise capital to purchase the crop insurance business out of a robotics and spin it out into its own separate entity.”

Burdock says Insure.ag will use data from Aerobotics and CropGuard to help provide growers with a better understanding of historical trends and future projections for better policies. He says growers often struggle to find the optimal coverage for both farm economics as well as potential risk.

“We have partnered with a company called CropGuard that has built technology to solve for this,” he says. “They’ve got technology that uses AI and goes and looks at historicals for your crop type in your county and also predicts how the future is going to turn out. It does a 10-year forecast analysis of different outcomes and then predicts where it thinks you would have the best bang for your buck on your crop insurance spend.”

Burdock says he wants to bring the insights from Aerobotics and CropGuard together to provide a differentiated experience for growers to help them optimize coverage, reduce waste and mitigate claim risks.

“We’ll provide the contents and inventory for your policy, make sure that’s 100% right and dialed in and no issues when it comes to claims,” he says. “And No. 2, we will help you make the best decision you can in terms of how much money should you spend on your crop insurance so that you get the best return over the next 10 years on that spend.”

Burdock says his team at Insure.ag continues to grow, and while he wants to make sure to provide great service, he wants to make sure that growers have access to the type of technology that can help ease the struggles of purchasing crop protection insurance.

“I think you really need to be leveraging technology to make sure that you know you’re adding more value,” he says. “It’s a significant investment for insurance for these growing groups and to make sure that that investment is protected and is spent wisely.”

Another Temporary Fix: Stopgap Bill Includes Farm Bill Extension — Is This the New Normal for Ag Policy?

Wed, 12 Nov 2025 11:01:18 GMT

A new stopgap spending bill to reopen the government also extends key Farm Bill programs for one year—covering the provisions left out of July’s budget package. While the Senate waits on the House to vote, it brings up what some economists think may be a new reality: the days of passing a comprehensive Farm Bill may be over, and a piecemeal approach could be the new norm in Washington.

It’s been about 6 years and 11 months since Congress passed a new, comprehensive (5-year) farm bill. This week, the continuing resolution (CR), which funds the federal government through January 30, includes an extension of the current farm bill, again. This prevents outdated “permanent law” provisions from taking effect. Without action, those Depression-era statutes could have triggered mandatory price supports for certain commodities, disrupting markets.

The bill also includes an extension of the U.S. Grain Standards Act, ensuring official grain inspection and weighing services continue without interruption.

Senate Votes 60–40 to Advance the Measure

The Senate advanced the package in a 60–40 vote Sunday night, providing farmers relief from uncertainty over whether core safety-net programs might lapse.

An earlier package dubbed the “One Big Beautiful Bill” increased funding for commodity programs, crop insurance, and export promotion, but it left out several smaller and conservation-related initiatives—including the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). The new CR temporarily fills that gap while Congress works toward a full Farm Bill reauthorization.

Boozman: “Critical USDA Services Resume”

Sen. John Boozman (R-AR), chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, praised the bill’s passage, emphasizing its importance for both producers and rural communities.

“Ending the government shutdown ensures critical USDA services resume so vulnerable families no longer experience disruptions to nutrition benefits, farmers can access the programs and personnel they rely on to keep their operations running efficiently and disaster assistance is delivered,” Boozman said in a statement.“We advanced long-overdue farm bill policy improvements in the One Big Beautiful Bill, including enhanced risk management tools farmers have been calling for, and we’re continuing work to reauthorize other key initiatives. Extending the farm bill and the U.S. Grain Standards Act gives us more time to finalize these programs essential to farmers, ranchers and rural America.”

Is This the New Norm?

The extension buys lawmakers additional time to complete a comprehensive Farm Bill reauthorization, expected to be one of the top legislative priorities in early 2026.

But the loss of urgency to pass a new, comprehensive five-year farm bill may be due to the fact Congress included key enhancements to the Farm Safety Net in the One Big Beautiful Bill earlier this year. The Farm Journal Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor asked economists in July if that makes it more difficult or easier to pass a Farm Bill this year. 70% said yes. And in September, the Monthly Monitor asked when Congress will pass a new farm bill. Nearly 40% (39%) said a piecemeal approach for passing the farm bill is the new norm.

According to the Congressional Research Service, Sections 10101 and 10108 (Title I, Agriculture) would increase federal outlays by about $52.3 billion + $1.6 billion over 10 years.

The American Farm Bureau Federation says the bill directs about $65.6 billion in new agricultural investment over 10 years: ~$59 billion for core farm safety-net enhancements, ~$6.6 billion for other ag priorities.

Key Farm Bill-style Provisions in the OBBB

Here’s a breakdown of major provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that impact legislation within the Farm Bill:

1. Extension & enhancement of commodity support / safety-net programs

The bill extends core programs originally in the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill) through crop year 2031.
Reference prices under the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program are raised.
The Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) program’s revenue guarantee is increased (for example, from 86% to 90%) and maximum payment rates increased.
Marketing Assistance Loan rates are increased.
The bill provides a one-time opportunity for eligible producers to update base acres (“new base acre holdings”).

2. Crop insurance and disaster assistance

Premium subsidies for crop insurance increase; the bill boosts coverage levels for the Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) and Whole Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP) policies.
Disaster assistance programs are expanded: loss types eligible are broadened, thresholds for payment triggers are lowered, and coverage levels increased.

3. Dairy, sugar, and specialty commodities

For dairy: The bill increases the amount of milk production a producer can enroll in the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program. Also, it requires dairy product manufacturers to report cost/yield data so that “make allowances” under the federal milk marketing order system can be updated.
For sugar: Under the sugar support program, priority is given to sugar-beet processors if marketing allotments are raised; the bill also mandates reallocation of tariff-rate quota shortfalls by March 1 and requires USDA to report on refined sugar imports.

4. Agricultural research, animals, trust funds, and miscellaneous programs

Section 10108 of the bill funds: the National Animal Health Laboratory Network, National Animal Disease Preparedness Response Program, and the National Animal Vaccine and Veterinary Countermeasures Bank.
Extends funding for trust funds supporting pima cotton, wool, certain textile, and citrus industries.
Miscellaneous investments in horticulture, energy (for agriculture), trade promotion, and rural infrastructure also included.

While nothing is easy in Washington, it seems addressing portions of farm bill funding within other legislation is the path of least resistance. Which could change the way farm bills are shaped - and passed through Congress- in the years ahead.

Opposition to the Farm Bill Extension

While most farm groups applaud the one-year extension of the 2018 Farm Bill, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) says it comes with potential issues for small and medium size farmers.

“The Senate’s deal to reopen the government has a number of problems that will hurt farmers and rural communities. The Senate attaches a 12-month Farm Bill extension to the deal, setting up the possibility for more chaos just a year from now,” says Michael Happ, Program Associate for Climate and Rural Communities. “Even worse, it is not a clean extension. The text proposes eliminating payment limitations for Farm Bill conservation programs such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). In most years, well over half of applicants to EQIP are turned away due to a lack of funds — and without payment limits, the USDA will likely issue fewer, larger EQIP contracts. By getting rid of the payment limit, the Senate opens the door for more of EQIP’s finite resources to be diverted to the largest operations while more small and midscale farms are closed out.”

IATP is urging the Senate needs to keep payment limits in place and go back to the negotiating table.

$16 Billion Available in Disaster Relief from USDA

Fri, 25 Jul 2025 19:18:14 GMT

USDA has made available $16 billion in assistance through the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program (SDRP) for agricultural producers who suffered eligible crop losses due to natural disasters in 2023 and 2024.

USDA says the Farm Service Agency (FSA) will deliver the assistance in two stages, the first stage is open to producers with eligible crop losses that received assistance under crop insurance or the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) during 2023 and 2024. Stage one sign-up began in person at FSA county offices on July 10, and prefilled applications were mailed to producers on July 9. SDRP stage two signups for eligible shallow or uncovered losses will begin in early fall.

Eligible losses must be the result of natural disasters occurring in calendar years 2023 and/or 2024. USDA says these disasters include wildfires, hurricanes, floods, derechos, excessive heat, tornadoes, winter storms, freeze (including a polar vortex), smoke exposure, excessive moisture, qualifying drought and related conditions.

To qualify for drought-related losses, the loss must have occurred in a county rated by the U.S. Drought Monitor as having a D2 (severe drought) for eight consecutive weeks, D3 (extreme drought), or greater intensity level during the applicable calendar year.

To apply for SDRP, producers must submit the FSA-526, Supplemental Disaster Relief Program (SDRP) stage one application, in addition to having other forms on file with FSA.

Stage one payments are based on the SDRP adjusted NAP or Federal crop insurance coverage level the producer purchased for the crop. The net NAP or net federal crop insurance payments (NAP or crop insurance indemnities minus administrative fees and premiums) will be subtracted from the SDRP calculated payment amount.

For stage one, the total SDRP payment to indemnified producers will not exceed 90% of the loss, and an SDRP payment factor of 35% will be applied to all stage one payments. If additional SDRP funds remain, FSA may issue a second payment.

All producers who receive SDRP payments are required to purchase federal crop insurance or NAP coverage for the next two available crop years at the 60% coverage level or higher. Producers who fail to purchase crop insurance for the next two available crop years will be required to refund the SDRP payment, plus interest, to USDA.

USDA says FSA will announce additional SDRP assistance for uncovered losses, including non-indemnified shallow losses and quality losses and how to apply later this fall.

Commodity Programs Might See a 12% Cut in the Proposed $1 Trillion Farm Bill

Fri, 17 Feb 2023 19:59:17 GMT

The Congressional Budget Office unveiled its 10-year cost estimates (2024 to 2033) for existing farm bill programs on Wednesday, with a projected $1.5 trillion price tag, up from $867 billion in the 2018 farm bill.

Jim Wiesemeyer, Pro Farmer policy analyst, advises not to put too much weight in these estimates, as they are the reason the farm bill is out of date so soon after it is written.

“CBO’s farm bill forecasts are frequently well off the mark in either direction,” he says. “It’s a lot like USDA’s farm income projections in February for the year head. CBO looks out 10 years … good luck taking these forecasts too seriously.”

So, will this amount of money keep the programs ahead of their time? Some aren’t convinced. And it starts with the farm bill’s largest funded program—Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

SNAP Spending

Based on the 10-year period, SNAP spending is nearly 82% larger than what it was granted in the 2018 Farm Bill at $663 billion.

(Farm Journal)

A large portion of the increase is due to the administration’s re-evaluation of SNAP’s the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP), which resulted in a quarter-trillion-dollar increase in SNAP benefits from July 2021 to the May 2022 baseline.

In the most recent baseline, CBO increased its estimate of outlays for SNAP by $93 billion over the 2023–2032 period for “technical” reasons.

According to Sen. Boozman (R-AR), these reasons are rooted in “unacceptable” $250 billion spending by the USDA on TFP—which was supposed to have cost nothing—in the previous farm bill. Boozman made his sentiments known at a Senate Ag Committee farm bill hearing on nutrition on Thursday.

“Congress had no intention of your team spending that, and if you understood that was going to happen, you should have alerted Congress,” Boozman said to Cindy Long, USDA administrator. “How can we trust you going forward to give us advice? Spending a quarter of a trillion dollars from this committee is totally unacceptable.”

Related articles: How Long Does it Take to Write a Farm Bill?

While Boozman is adamant other program will suffer funding losses due to the “unsustainable” TFP increases in the coming bill, Senate Ag Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) says that’s not the case.

“Whether commodity or SNAP programs go up or down, these monies aren’t traded. So, cutting SNAP won’t add money to the commodity title,” Stabenow says.

The 2018 bill enacted policy for a “thorough” farm bill update that hadn’t been done since 1975, according to Stabenow. She says the TFP increases fall under that update umbrella.

“The Trump administration chose not to use that [update and funding] because that was 2018—they chose not to proceed,” Stabenow rebutted. “The Biden administration came in and chose to proceed with those funds, and I’m glad they did.”

The General Accountability Office (GAO) has since determined USDA failed to submit the TFP food basket increase to Congress as a rule as required by the Congressional Review Act.

Row Crop Safety Net

Disaster programs such as the Market Facilitation Program (MFP), Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP), Wildfire and Hurricane Indemnity Program Plus (WHIP+) and Emergency Relief Program (ERP) saw billions of dollars moved from taxpayers to producers in the past 10 years, with USDA reporting the largest spike in 2020 at $45 billion.

According to estimates from the House Ag Committee, CBO’s 2023 baselines compared to the 2018 farm bill will cause changes over the five-year period in:
• Commodity programs—12% decrease
• Conservation—19% increase
• Nutrition—82% increase
• Crop insurance—26% increase

However, CBO’s latest baseline provides no built-in ad hoc for these programs.

“If Congress doesn’t provide more funding/investments for Title 1, it puts pressure on farm-state lawmakers to continue the billions in ad hoc aid,” Wiesemeyer says. “Some analysts say reforming Title I would mean spending far less than continuing ad hoc assistance. If Title I is not made more effective, farmers will keep wondering if Congress will fund more emergency aid.”

Related articles: The Cost of a Farm Bill: 2023 Row Crop Priorities

GAO released a report stating that those wanting to change crop insurance program features will try to use to their advantage.

Here are the changes GAO says Congress could make to mitigate the programs costs:

• Reduce subsidies to high-income participants by creating an income limit.
• Adjust compensation to insurance companies to better align with market rates.

Livestock Safety Net

Dairy and livestock did, however, receive a safety net mention in CBO’s baselines.

Under the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program, CBO forecasts FY 2023 payments will total $194 million in FY 2023, with those increasing to $248 million in FY 2024 and $266 million in FY 2025. For the rest of the period—through FY 2033—they are forecast between $196 million and $265 million, for a total of $2.531 billion.

Livestock disaster payments are expected at $621 million in FY 2023 and forecast between $562 million to $591 million over FY 2024 to FY 2033, for a total of $6.333 billion.

USDA Farm-Bill Outline: Work as a Food-Stamp Goal

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 21:28:57 GMT

(Bloomberg) -- A Trump administration outline for farm legislation calls for pushing some food-stamp recipients back to work, a GOP priority.

A four-page document released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday called for supporting “work as the pathway to self-sufficiency, well-being and economic mobility for individuals and families” on food stamps. The administration didn’t specify how it would change the law or whether it wants to cut funds for the program.

The department said it wants to discourage subsidies that make farmers dependent on the government. The document also called for cutting regulations, as well as improved monitoring of how other countries may impede agriculture exports, according to the outline released Tuesday in advance of a trip by Agriculture Secretary Sonny Purdue to Pennsylvania, where he’ll discuss the proposals.

The bill, whose cost has topped $100 billion in previous years, authorizes programs overseen by the Agriculture Department, including payments to growers of corn and soybeans and funds to prevent forest fires. The current farm law ends Sept. 30, after which subsidies begin to phase out.

The outline -- described by the administration as a statement of principles -- is meant to guide legislation proposed in Congress, Perdue said in an interview in his USDA office last week. The White House is ready to get more deeply involved if lawmakers veer far from the administration’s approach, Perdue added.

“You will see more of an evolution than a revolution” in this year’s law, Perdue said. “There are some things that we can do and will propose to do in the farm bill that can be helpful.”

Recommendations on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP -- commonly called food stamps, -- are being watched especially closely, because a partisan dispute over that issue nearly derailed the previous farm law that ultimately passed in 2014. Nutrition initiatives, including SNAP, account for most of the bill’s costs.

“The only ugly issue on the scene is the food fight between the nutrition people and the crop-agriculture people,” said Harwood Schaffer, an agricultural economist at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. “If we don’t have to steal from nutrition to make the commodity programs work, we may be able to avoid any major problems.”

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, a Kansas Republican who has raised concern about fraud in the SNAP program, said that while some food stamp rules may be tightened, changes to the program aren’t likely to be dramatic, given a need to attract Democratic votes in the Senate. Perdue, in the interview last week, also said the administration wouldn’t be pushing for radical change to the program.

Many people who receive food stamps do work. In 2015, the Agriculture Department said that 57 percent of working age adults in the program either had a job or were looking for one; another 22 percent did not work because of a disability.

Farm-bill leadership has traditionally fallen to Congress, with the USDA in an advisory role, though different administrations have tried different approaches. George W. Bush’s administration advanced a very detailed policy statement in 2002, which fell flat; and Bush vetoed Congress’s final plan in 2008. That veto was overridden.

President Barack Obama’s administration played little role in drafting the 2014 law. Trump told the American Farm Bureau Federation earlier this months that he’d work with Congress “to pass the farm bill on time so that it delivers for all of you.”

The $1.5 trillion tax cut Congress passed last month may make approval of farm legislation more difficult by starving programs of funds, Schaffer said.

Cotton and dairy farmers likely will seek larger subsidies, and may argue there’s more money that could be made available to them as spending on food stamps has declined because of an improving economy, Schaffer said. In 2017, spending on food stamps fell 15 percent, to $68 billion, from its peak four years earlier.

Roberts and House Agriculture Committee Chairman Michael Conaway, a Texas Republican, have both said they’d like a bill in their chambers early this year. Neither has revealed a plan.

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.

Struggling Florida Citrus Growers Face Tough Decisions

Fri, 13 Nov 2020 06:04:33 GMT

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (AP) — Although the 2017-18 citrus harvest has barely begun, growers are already planning for the 2018-19 season, and they have critical decisions to make in the coming months that will affect next season’s crop and perhaps others in years to come.

Growers say all but the luckiest among them will profit in 2017-18. Because hurricane-force winds hit the state’s entire citrus-producing area south of Interstate 4, there aren’t many growers who escaped major damage.

Irma destroyed more than 50 percent of this season’s oranges, grapefruit, tangerines and tangelos. Before Irma, Florida’s citrus industry battled greening, a devastating disease.

The latest official U.S. Department of Agriculture survey released Nov. 9 shows 50 million boxes of oranges, a 27 percent drop from the 2016-17 season, and 4.65 million boxes of grapefruit, a 40 percent decline from last season. Growers expect those numbers to decrease through the end of the harvest in May as storm-damaged trees drop fruit before harvest.

“If I had to take a guess, I would say we’ll end this season with 40 million boxes of oranges,” said Allen Morris, an agriculture economist and consultant with decades of experience in Florida citrus.

That would mean a drop in U.S. supply of orange juice, most of which in past seasons has come from Florida oranges, Morris said. Each year, about 95 percent of the state’s orange crop goes to juice.

“We will survive, but imports will play a critical role in our survival,” he said.

The Ledger reports that when Florida will recover as the major supplier of orange juice to the U.S. market depends on when the state’s citrus trees will return to pre-Irma production.

There’s little question that damage caused by Irma to most of Florida’s 62 million citrus trees will affect future crop production at least through the 2018-19 season. That was growers’ experience following the 2004 and 2005 hurricanes.

But more than a decade ago, operating a grove was a much cheaper proposition than it is now because growers didn’t have to deal with the fatal bacterial disease citrus greening. Since its arrival in 2005, greening has reduced the state’s annual citrus harvest by more than 70 percent while more than doubling grove-caretaking costs.

Costs have risen because of the additional fertilizer and pesticide applications growers must make to fight greening, said Ariel Singerman, assistant professor of agricultural economics at the University of Florida’s Citrus Research and Education Center in Lake Alfred.

That means it costs a lot more to wait for trees to recover from hurricane damage.

In the 2016-17 season, the average Florida grower spent about $1,800 per grove acre, including fertilizers, pesticides, labor and other inputs, That’s based on an annual statewide survey he conducts every summer after the conclusion of the harvest.

That figure does not include other fixed costs, such as capital expenses; land costs, such as a mortgage; and other management inputs.

Maintaining an adequate level of grove caretaking will be a key challenge for growers this year, Singerman said.

“That is exactly why the Florida citrus industry is shrinking - they (growers) cannot afford the cost of staying in business,” he said. “If a grower has lost 50 percent of his fruit, it’s unlikely he will make a profit.”

The Associated Press, 2017

Information from: The Ledger (Lakeland, Fla.), http://www.theledger.com

Stabenow Finally Releases Full Text of Senate Farm Bill; Here's What It Means for Agriculture

Stabenow unveiled 1,397-page details of her long-awaited farm bill Monday morning. This comes as early Sunday evening Pro Farmer broke the news that Senate Ag Chairwoman (D-Mich.) had briefed Democrats but not Republicans on her coming farm bill text, which was expected to be released Monday.

Stabenow said in a news release and summary of the bill , “The foundation of every successful farm bill is built on holding together the broad, bipartisan farm bill coalition. This is a strong bill that invests in all of agriculture, helps families put food on the table, supports rural prosperity, and holds that coalition together.”

BREAKING: Chairwoman @SenStabenow Introduces Rural Prosperity and Food Security Acthttps://t.co/qRunZlk6zj
— Senate Ag, Nutrition, & Forestry Committee Dems (@SenateAgDems) November 18, 2024

The Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act includes $39 billion in new resources “to keep farmers farming, families fed, and rural communities strong.” The bill builds on the proposal Stabenow released in May by investing new resources and including innovative, new ideas to deliver the assistance farmers need faster.

It provides farmers with the certainty of a 5-year farm bill and the immediate help they need to manage the urgent needs of the present. It doubles down on our commitment to rural communities, ensures that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) keeps up with the realities of American life, and brings the historic investments in climate-smart conservation practices into the farm bill. These new investments include:

$20 billion to strengthen the farm safety net to support all of agriculture and establishes a permanent structure for disaster assistance so emergency relief reaches farmers faster;
$8.5 billion to help families make ends meet, put food on the table, and improve access to nutrition assistance;
$4.3 billion to improve quality of life in the rural communities that millions of Americans call home.”

Farm CPA Paul Neiffer has already combed through the bill, and says, “This is our first preview of the Senate Farm Bill Proposal. There appears to be some benefit to production Ag, however, many of the proposals seem to penalize production ag such as the following:

Very limited increase in base acres
Restriction on payments due to ownership of farmland by higher AGI individuals or entities
Reduction in AGI limits
No change to definition of farm income
Possible limit on PLC payments
Items that may benefit production ag include:
Permanent ERP (although this is a very messy program)
Partial advance payments of ARC and PLC
Automatic 2023 and 2024 ARC or PLC decisions”

Senate GOP Ag Committee Ranking Member Reacts

Senate Ag Committee ranking member John Boozman (R-Ark.) on X wrote: “An 11th hour partisan proposal released 415 days after the expiration of the current farm bill is insulting. America’s farmers deserve better.”

“An 11th hour partisan proposal released 415 days after the expiration of the current farm bill is insulting. America’s farmers deserve better.” RM @JohnBoozman
— Senate Ag Committee Republicans (@SenateAgGOP) November 18, 2024

Meanwhile, the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) issued the following statement:

“Though America’s pork producers appreciate Chairwoman Stabenow’s efforts to publish Farm Bill text, this is simply not a viable bill, as it fails to provide a solution to California Prop. 12,” said NPPC President Lori Stevermer, a pork producer from Easton, Minn. “Pork producers have continually spoken up about the negative impacts of this issue, and it is a shame these conversations were disregarded.”

In May, NPPC secured 100 percent of pork producers’ priorities in the House Agriculture Committee-passed bipartisan 2024 Farm Bill. In June, producers once again secured all policy priorities in Senate Agriculture Committee Ranking Member John Boozman’s 2024 Farm Bill framework.

NPPC said it urges both chambers of Congress to swiftly consider and pass a Farm Bill this year that includes a fix to California Proposition 12, a state law that places arbitrary housing standards on the pork industry, creating uncertainty for pork producers as they look to continue their operations to the next generation.

Additional Impact on Agriculture from Farm CPA

In a post this morning, Paul Neiffer of Farm CPA Report included a quick preview of the items that jumped out at him relative to the farm bill details released by Stabenow.

Reference Prices: The House proposal raised reference prices by approximately 10-20%. The Senate proposal appears to raise reference prices by a flat 5% (rounded). Although it appears that Cotton only went up by 4% instead of 5%.
Increase in Base Acres
- Only underserved and disadvantaged farmers may increase base acres
- Based on average of 2018-2022 plantings
- Includes prevent planted acres
- Maximum increase of 160 acres per farm
- If disadvantage farmer does not farm acres during 2025-2029, then increased base acres are eliminated
- Special 2023 and 2024 ARC/PLC election
- Automatic election to be paid the highest amount for 2023 and 2024 crop year even if the farmer originally elected ARC or PLC.

Limit on PLC Payment: The maximum amount of payment for PLC will be 15% of the effective reference price. As example, assume a farmer has a PLC yield of 200 bushels for corn and the effective reference price is $4.30 and the final corn harvest price is $3.50. Under the old PLC rules, the farmer could receive 200 bushels times 80 cents per bushel or $160. Under this proposal, the farmer is limited to 65 cents or $130 per acre.
Partial PLC Payments: Instead of waiting until after October 1 to collect a PLC payment, the farmer, in certain situations may elect to receive up to 50% of the crop beginning February 1. This is based on firm projections by USDA that the final harvest price will be below the effective reference price. If USDA pays too much, then the farmer must pay it back.
Agricultural Risk Coverage: As expected, the Bill increases the guarantee from the current 86% to 88%, less than the 90% in the House Bill. However, not expected, the Bill increases the maximum payment to 12.50% of benchmark revenue, matching the House Bill and makes this retroactive to the 2024 crop. 2023 crop remains at 10%.
Partial ARC Payments: Provides same mechanism for partial payments as under PLC.
Increase to Marketing Loan Rates: For 2025 crops and subsequent years, the loan rate will be the lesser of 110% of current loan rates or an adjustment based on current input costs versus a five-year average.
Sugar Program: Increase sugar cane payment to 24 cents per pound for 2025-2029. Sugar beet growers will receive 136.5% of sugar cane payment rate.
Permanent ERP: Emergency Relief Program would be made permanent (at least until next farm bill). Payment limits of $500,000 for specialty crops and $250,000 for all other crops.
Terms appear similar to old ERP programs, but it does not mandate how USDA will administer it, etc. Also, no extra payment limit if you can prove you are a farmer. This may still be messy for CPAs to help farmers calculate their claim. Also, requires farmers to insure all acres.
Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) limits: AGI limits dropped from $900,000 to $700,000.
- Increases AGI limits to $1.5 million for specialty and high-value crops.
- What happens if a farmer grows both? The Bill does not address this, other than likely leave it up to USDA to come up with rules.
- Waiver of AGI rules available to economically distressed producer.
- It appears that no payments will be allowed if the land is owned by someone or an entity whose AGI is over $700,000. This means that a farmer who is cash renting that ground will not qualify for any payment on that ground. Under current rules and the House Farm Bill proposal, any farmer who is cash renting the ground and their AGI is under the limit will qualify for a payment. This is a major change and will create the law of unintended consequences. They seem to want to not have an incentive for wealthier individuals to purchase land since their high AGI will not qualify them for any payments but under current rules they get no payment anyway.

Increase in CCC Scoring: Section 1708 indicates that for purposes of CBO scoring, the restrictions on utilizing CCC funds shall be $6.7 billion per year for 2024-2033. The last scoring by CBO was $400 million per year.

CRP Rentals Limit Increased to $125,000 from current $50,000

Crop Insurance Changes: Increases subsidies for beginning and veteran farmers and ranchers to essentially match House proposal.
- Increases SCO to allow for payment at 88% instead of 86% of guarantee. House was at 90%.
- Increases premium subsidies.
Makes improvements to Whole Farm and Micro Farm insurance plans.

Comments:

Several contacts, asked to respond to Stabenow’s late farm bill details, used the same words: “Wow, finally, but too late.” Stabenow is departing Congress after this session ends, and veteran farm bill watchers say this late-entry farm bill is not a positive chapter in her long career. Most are asking why she chose today in releasing the details, and why she took a partisan approach in briefing about the matter.