Live Insurance News

Crop insurance in Kansas farm bill pleases farmers

July 18, 2013July 20, 2013 G. Turner

Though growers are pleased that the program continues to exist, they are wary of cuts to direct subsidies. Farmers in Kansas are thrilled that their crop insurance program has been maintained as a part of a scaled down farm bill that has been passed by the U.S. House, but they are still leery as it doesn’t look as though the opportunity that it will provide will be quite as lucrative as what it used to be. They are still watching to see which elements of it will make it into…

Crop insurance in the farm bill is now up for debate in the Senate

May 22, 2013May 25, 2013 H. Cutner

The cuts to the federally subsidized program are facing consideration by Senators this week. This week, the Senate is now debating the proposed cuts to the federally subsidized crop insurance program, as an element of the enormous farm bill which is also being considered. On Monday, the Obama administration said that it wanted greater cuts to the subsidies and coverage. They stated that they wanted more crop insurance cuts in the legislation, and that the farm subsidies should also be reduced. The current proposal would cost nearly $100 billion per…

Crop insurance expansion approved by Senate panel

May 17, 2013May 25, 2013 H. Cutner

The farm bill that would broaden the coverage has now received the approval from a U.S. panel. The Senate Agriculture Committee has just approved its version of the farm bill – the House is debating another – which would expand the reach of the federally subsidized crop insurance program and that will cost approximately $500 billion over a period of ten years. The bill will also make some limited cuts on the spending for the food stamps that are issued to the poor. The Senate bill is one thousand pages…

Crop insurance gets bigger as the latest farm bill’s costs rise

May 16, 2013May 25, 2013 H. Cutner

The federally subsidized program will now offer a minimum of three new forms of protection. The most costly part of the safety net for American farmers, the federally subsidized crop insurance program, will now have at least three new forms of coverage available to growers across the country. The farm bill draft is currently pending in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. It has been suggested that the new form of crop insurance could generate a cost that is 10 percent higher than the expense it currently generates.…

Crop insurance teetering on the “fiscal cliff”

December 17, 2012April 30, 2013

The farm bill has been pushed to help to save the protection subsidies from the axe. Lawmakers from rural areas who are concerned that the $9 billion in annual federal subsidies for crop insurance may be considered to be an easy target for cutting spending in order to avoid the looming fiscal cliff. They are now seeking a new way to compromise on the farm bill in order to continue protecting farmers. The House and Senate Agriculture Committee chairpersons had already been prepared to use a new farm bill in…