I appreciated Farm Bureau President Craig Hill’s opinion piece Oct. 5 [This much is certain: For farmers, crop insurance is essential]. I agree crop insurance is a key component of the farm economy here in Iowa, which includes 25-plus million acres of actively farmed crop ground. However, what is not well understood is crop insurance's unintended negative impact in degrading water quality in our state’s rivers and streams. This happens, for example, when we provide crop insurance to farmers to plant corn in highly erodable areas or areas subject to flooding when they should be managing the land for timber, grazing or wildlife. In the vernacular of the insurance world, poorly written farm bill crop insurance policies are encouraging adverse selection and moral hazard problems because farmers plant higher risk areas to corn that otherwise wouldn’t be. The next Farm Bill needs to be written so that water quality and soil loss are limiting factors in deciding which lands should be eligible for such crop insurance protection, not unlike restrictions that are now in place for property subject to flooding. There are other aspects of crop insurance that need to be addressed, such as writing new rules to allow for cover crops that protect soil on insured corn ground. Federal crop insurance is one of our most powerful economic tools, representing more than $3.4 billion in federal subsidies to Iowa, according to the Cedar Rapids Gazette (1995-2011). Let’s make sure when it comes to water quality and soil conservation, our federal farm subsidy dollars are spent wisely. Source - http://www.desmoinesregister.com