Tag: crop insurance

Crop insurance changes are already assisting farmers facing drought

Nordstrom
Crop Insurance

Dry conditions threaten agricultural yields across the country. As farmers continue to look to the skies and await the much needed rain that never seems to come, changes to the crop insurance program will now be providing some required assistance. The U.S. Department of Agriculture will be helping farmers through this time of drought. This announcement was made by U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA). He explained that “As the drought worsens, it’s imperative that Pennsylvania farmers have every tool at their disposal to cope with the possible damage.” Senator Casey…

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Senate crop insurance reforms face opposition by House panel

Crop insurance

Challenges to changes made by U.S. House Agriculture Committee. The two new reforms for crop insurance that had received Senate approval have been challenged by the U.S. House Agriculture Committee, forming yet another dispute on the farm bill, as time for enacting the new law comes ever closer to running out. Aside from this disagreement, the House also seeks to boost price supports for crops by up to 40 percent. On the other hand, the Senate would prefer to cease the subsidies altogether. The preference of the House is to…

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Crop insurance helps farmers and insurers alike

Marc
Crop Insurance

These policies, subsidized by the federal government, help protect against losses. When plants fail to grow or are damaged by poor or severe weather, or even when prices plummet, the government is footing the majority of the bill through a crop insurance program for farmers. This coverage helps both the growers and the insurers who write the policies. It functions by providing subsidies to the farmers and the insurers in the case that losses from crops should grow too large. These subsidies are partially paid for by taxpayer dollars. The…

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Over $1 million in crop insurance premiums paid to U.S. farms in 2011

Crop insurance

Environmental Working Group now requesting reduction in growers’ subsidies from Congress. The Environmental Working Group (EWG), an organization based in Washington, has performed an analysis that has shown that just over 24 U.S. farm operations received more than $1 million in crop insurance premiums payments – each – in 2011, and it has now made a call to Congress to decrease those growers’ subsidies. Policyholders numbering over 100,000 received at least $100,000 each in insurance premium subsidies. The EWG explained in a statement that its calculations were based on records…

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Climate Prediction Center heralds the return of El Nino this year

Nordstrom

Insurance industry on El Nino watch. The U.S. Climate Prediction Center (CPC), a government agency that provides weather information to the insurance industry and others, has raised concerns that El Nino may make a strong return to the Northern Hemisphere later this year. The weather phenomenon is notorious for the number of natural disasters it spawns throughout the Northern Hemisphere. El Nino brings an increase in rainfall and changes to temperature and wind patterns in some parts of the world. The CPC notes that El Nino could have a disastrous…

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