A coalition of 49 groups representing farm interests, equipment manufacturers, banks, insurance companies, credit lenders and other entities have joined in urging Congressional leadership to keep their promise to American farmers to not cut crop insurance or other farm programs through the omnibus appropriations act. “We urge you to uphold the promise to make the crop insurance program whole again without re-opening the farm bill,” they wrote in the Nov. 19 letter. “The crop insurance program is a linchpin of the farm safety net and is crucial to the economic security of rural America.” The groups told the leadership that while they appreciated those members who came to the defense of crop insurance during the recent budget debate, they also wrote to express their strong support for the agreement to unwind both the policy and the cut to crop insurance during the omnibus. “We applaud assurances that any funding needed for this correction will not come out of the jurisdiction of the agriculture committees,” the letter said. The agriculture community is strongly committed to the belief that balancing the federal budget is important, which is why the industry supported the passage of the 2014 farm bill just last year that saves tens of billions of dollars. The bill is a careful balance of priorities and should not be reopened before its expiration in 2018. “Additionally, crop insurance has contributed well over $12 billion towards reducing government spending since the 2008 farm bill. For these reasons, the industries represented on this letter should not be impacted by any necessary offset.” The groups highlighted that farm spending and, specifically, crop insurance has been cut by billions to help balance the federal budget, but this cut in the budget goes too far saying it “would gut the private sector delivery” at a time when insurers are already seeing red. The groups say the crop insurance provision contained in the recently enacted budget deal would reduce private sector delivery of crop insurance by cutting USDA’s assumed target rate of return by 38 percent. Since the 2011 Standard Reinsurance Agreement was implemented by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, crop insurance providers have averaged negative net returns. “The inevitable result of this provision would be industry consolidation, reduced choice in insurance providers for all farmers and a dramatic decline in the availability and service of policies,” the letter said. The alternative to a successful crop insurance system is often ad hoc disaster assistance, which the groups say is “subject to the whim of Washington, is paid for entirely by the taxpayer, is not delivered in a timely manner and may help a producer survive a disaster but does not help manage risk. “Ad hoc disaster assistance also does not provide the confidence needed by lenders to provide farmers and ranchers the capital they need to produce our nation’s food, fuel and fiber. Today, the vast majority of cropland is protected by crop insurance, which has allowed U.S. farmers and ranchers to face back-to-back years of wide scale natural disasters without annual calls for ad hoc disaster bills. “Farmers and lawmakers agree that crop insurance is an essential risk management tool in a farmer’s risk management toolbox. As an omnibus appropriations bill is negotiated, we urge you to uphold the promise to make the crop insurance program whole again without re-opening the farm bill.” Lawmakers will need to pass an omnibus-spending bill to prevent a government shutdown by Dec. 11. That’s when a stopgap measure, known as a continuing resolution, is set to expire. Congressional leadership in October included a provision to cut crop insurance in a budget deal that was negotiated at the last minute and without any consultation with farmers and rural lawmakers. The agricultural community pushed back, and leaders from the House and Senate Agriculture Committees were able to secure an agreement to remove the harmful provision in the upcoming omnibus spending bill that’s due to be revealed and considered in early December. “But that promise is just a promise until it is included in the bill; it passes in Congress, and the president signs it into law,” said a release from the group. Source - http://www.hpj.com