News

Risk management needs a revamp in farm bill

A U.S. Senator from Kansas says risk management tools in the new farm bill, including crop insurance, deserve an update to provide better support for producers.

Roger Marshall is a co-sponsor of the Federal Agriculture Risk Management Enhancement and Resilience or FARMER Act, which increases premium support for higher levels of crop insurance and is meant to reduce the amount of ad-hoc disaster assistance needed.

He tells Brownfield, “We’ve seen the nutrition programs double in how much we’re spending on those. If we don’t spend a little bit more on the front end of it on crop insurance, then the back end of it, the food programs, will go up even more.”

Marshall says there hasn’t been much progress on a new farm bill in the Senate and it’s possible another extension of the 2018 Farm Bill will be needed. “Debbie Stabenow is a wonderful person, wonderful to work with. She’s dug in, we’re dug in, and I think we’ll have a better farm bill if we have a Republican Senate Majority, a better farm bill for the farmer.”

Brownfield interviewed Marshall at the Ag Commodity Futures Conference.