Crop insurance may look notably different following next farm bill

Crop Insurance

Risk management may play an important role in its shape and angle.

As the cost of crop insurance continues to skyrocket and takes steps away from paying growers directly and toward measures for risk management, Ohio State University agricultural economists are now predicting that the new focus will play an important role in the shape of the next Farm Bill.

The agricultural economists shared their opinions at the 50th Farm Science Review in Ohio.Crop Insurance

Among those included on the panel at the review featured Carl Zulauf, who is an expert in farm policy, as well as Ian Sheldon, a specialist in international trade and policy. Both of those panelists were from the Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics from Ohio State University.

Also taking part in the crop insurance discussion was Katharine Ferguson.

Ferguson is U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown’s legislative aide as well as being an agriculture committee member. Risk management and commodity prices specialist, Matt Roberts, was the panel’s moderator.

The panel’s discussion was directed primarily toward the chances that a new Farm Bill would not make its way through congress before the current legislation’s upcoming expiry date on September 30.

According to Zulauf, there will likely be an extension to the bill as opposed to a change before the expiry date passes. He believes that the status quo will be maintained at least until the end of 2012. He said that “It’s more common than not common that the Farm Bill expires before another one is approved.”

He pointed out that this current crop insurance circumstance has become the standard over the last few years and decades. He explained that “January 1, 2013, is really the date to watch for, when some of the programs [in the current legislation] would go away if there’s no new Farm Bill and the resolution to continue it expires.”

Zulauf showed that there are a number of different reasons that the current Congress should give their approval to a new crop insurance Farm Bill before the closure of this year. The reason is that the bills that are created by the House of Representatives and Senate will generate the ability to save billions of dollars at a point in time when Washington is placing a huge focus on the deficit.

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