News

Crop insurance companies sign new SRA

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says the USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA) has received signed 2011 Standard Reinsurance Agreements (SRA) from all 16 private insurance companies who participated in the federal crop insurance program during the 2010 crop year.

The new SRA is projected to achieve $6 billion in savings over the next 10 years, $4 billion of that will go toward paying down the federal deficit while the remaining $2 billion will support high-priority risk management and conservation programs.

The 2008 Farm Bill authorized RMA to renegotiate the crop insurance agreement for the 2011 crop year. Due to significant increases in commodity prices in recent years, annual insurance industry payments more than doubled from $1.8 billion in 2006 to an estimated $3.8 billion in 2009 while, the number of total policies decreased. USDA analysis found that over the past 21 years, crop insurance companies averaged a 17 percent return, the new deal projects a 14.5 percent return.

The sixteen companies who have signed the SRA are:

• Ace Property and Casualty Insurance Company
• Agrinational Insurance Company
• American Agri-Business Insurance Company
• American Agricultural Insurance Company
• Austin Mutual Insurance Company
• Country Mutual Insurance Company
• Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance Company of Iowa
• Great American Insurance Company
• Hudson Insurance Company
• NAU Country Insurance Company
• Occidental Fire and Casualty Company of North Carolina
• Producers Agriculture Insurance Company
• Rural Community Insurance Company
• Stonington Insurance Company
• John Deere Insurance Company
• XL Reinsurance America, Inc.