Senator John Hoeven, a senior member of the Senate Agriculture Committee and Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee, today introduced the Federal Agriculture Risk Management Enhancement and Resilience (FARMER) Act, legislation to strengthen crop insurance and make higher levels of coverage more affordable for producers.
“Crop insurance is an essential piece of the farm safety net, providing farmers with their most important risk management tool as they work to continue providing Americans with the highest quality, lowest cost food supply in the world. I have heard from producers across North Dakota about the need to make this important program more affordable. As such, we’re working to not only defend crop insurance, but improve it. That’s how we’re going to keep the farm in the farm bill,” said Hoeven. “My legislation will make higher levels of coverage more affordable across the country, especially in states where it’s currently prohibitively expensive to buy up. Ultimately, producers buying higher levels of coverage will lessen the need for ad-hoc disaster assistance in the future. That means a more resilient ag economy and a better deal for taxpayers.”
Cosponsors of the bill include Senate Agriculture Committee Ranking Member John Boozman (R-Ark.) and Senators Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.).
Hoeven’s legislation is supported by the American Farm Bureau Federation, American Soybean Association, American Sugarbeet Growers Association, Crop Insurance Professionals Association, Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau, Midwest Council on Agriculture, National Association of Wheat Growers, National Barley Growers Association, National Cotton Council, National Corn Growers Association, National Sunflower Association, Southwest Council of Agribusiness, U.S. Beet Sugar Association, U.S. Canola Association, U.S. Durum Growers Association, Western Peanut Growers Association, Minnesota Corn Growers Association, North Dakota Corn Growers Association, North Dakota Farmers Union, North Dakota Grain Growers Association, North Dakota Soybean Growers Association and the Northharvest Bean Growers Association.
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