The changing face of federal crop insurance

Bill Murphy, an administrator at the Risk Management Agency (RMA) has announced that the Federal Crop Insurance program will be undergoing some positive changes in the near future. Murphy was present at the Big Iron Farm Show in West Fargo and spoke to the crowd about the current year’s issues as well as changes to the program. Not all of the news was good, as Murphy did need to discuss the unprecedented number of catastrophes in 2011 that left farmers hurting this year; from the overly wet soil in North…

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Crop insurance a key part of Obama’s federal deficit remedy.

President Obama unveiled his plans to tackle the federal deficit Monday. One of the ways the administration will confront the federal deficit is by making changes to the overarching agricultural infrastructure of the nation. Obama is looking to provide farmers with a $5 billion annual subsidy that will help them regulate the price of crops and purchase crop insurance in order to guard against natural disasters. This will remove the direct payment structure that has been in place in the industry since 1996, however, a move that has garnered a…

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Farmers hope crop insurance will replace shrinking government check

The landowners and farmers who have traditionally relied on the receipt of a government check to help with their survival, regardless of the profitability of their farms, will soon be facing the shrinking or elimination of those subsidy checks. The congressional super committee responsible for designing the fall plan for dramatically reducing the federal budget is predicted to take aim at those subsidy payments. Lobbyists and other supporters of the farmers are struggling to develop a new and less expensive way to subsidize the farms and which would offer farmers…

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No end in sight for severe drought in Texas

Drought continues to grip much of the Southern U.S. and there seems to be no end in sight. Texas was due for some mild relief from Tropical Storm Don as it made its way from the Gulf to bathe Southern Texas with rain. However, the storm vanished as it approached land, like an illusory oasis in the desert. What should have brought modest relief to a state that has struggled with drought since October of last year proved only to spur worry. Concerns regarding the drought are highest among ranchers…

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