Live Insurance News

Crop insurance placed back in the spotlight following election

November 9, 2012April 30, 2013

Attention for farm bill has become an important target for lawmakers. Now that the election is behind us, crop insurance federal subsidies will return to the spotlight as a major target for lawmakers who are seeking to slash the budget deficit in Congress’s first week of the lame duck session. Experts in agricultural policy feel that this is a typical week following a general election. Many doubt, however, that lawmakers will be able to make their way through the deadlock they have been facing regarding the enacting of a $500…

Crop insurance payouts may break double the previous record

October 31, 2012October 29, 2012 Marc

Some estimates have claimed that the payments will be greater than $25 billion. After crunching the numbers for this year’s crop insurance payments, it looks as though this coverage – which has been vital to farmers this year due to the widespread droughts and floods – it looks as though the payouts will be greater than $25 billion. This will be over twice the $10.8 billion record high that was set in 2011. This year, over 80 percent of the corn fields had crop insurance coverage. Clearly, this was significantly…

Crop insurance to help protect sunflower growers in Tanzania

October 22, 2012October 21, 2012 H. Cutner

The Handeni District in the Tanga region can now benefit from this protection from the weather. Muhingo Rweyemamu, the commissioner for the Handeni District of the Tanga region in Tanzania, has announced that there will now be new forms of crop insurance products and services available to sunflower farmers who have been struggling with unfavorable weather conditions. This micro-coverage initiative has been called the Weather Index Insurance (WII). It is being run by the Small Industry Development Organisation – International (Sido-Ifad), which has support from the Rural, Small and Medium…

Crop insurance could cost American taxpayers record amounts

October 19, 2012April 30, 2013

Droughts and floods could require $15 billion in U.S. taxes to subsidize this year’s program. Taxpayers in the United States may be facing a record breaking $15 billion in order to be able to continue subsidizing the privately operated crop insurance program, following the devastation from massive droughts throughout the Farm Belt, and flooding in other agricultural regions. Congress is currently seeking a way to help to control the skyrocketing costs. It has been a topic of a great deal of debate and discussion as Congress tries to reduce the…

Insurance news for dairy farmers will lead to higher monthly expenses

October 3, 2012April 30, 2013

The expired 2008 Farm Bill could mean payments of up to 10 percent of their monthly milk income. Beginning this month, dairy farmers made insurance news as they could lose up to 10 percent of their monthly income from milk because Congress allowed the 2008 Farm Bill to expire. The element affecting the farmers is the Milk Income Loss Contract program. This program functioned as a safety net for farmers when the national price of milk fell, offering them payments during those times. However, it expired along with the Farm…