The recent column, “$20 billion in farm subsidies doesn’t reach the poor, leaves them hungry” (Tribune, Jan. 20) demonstrates why we need to reform our nation’s current crop insurance program.
This study highlights one reason why I continue to fight to make our farm programs, especially the crop insurance program, more responsive to the needs of Wisconsin family farmers, consumers and taxpayers.
This year we will begin work on the next Farm Bill and crop insurance is at the top of the list of agriculture programs in need of reform. While crop insurance is a valuable risk-management tool for Wisconsin farmers, the current program is inefficient and costs taxpayers almost $9 billion per year. Also, a large percentage of crop insurance subsidies go to a few, big agribusinesses, at the expense of our family farmers
The Congressional Research Service estimates that while the average premium subsidy for farms purchasing crop insurance is approximately $19,000 per farm, the top one percent of policyholders collect about 15 percent of total crop insurance subsidies.
This is why we need to pass my bill, the Assisting Family Farmers through Insurance Reform Measures (AFFIRM) Act, which would save taxpayers more than $30 billion over 10 years and still support our family farmers. The bill calls for a cap of $40,000 in crop insurance premium subsidies per individual farm and eliminates these for individuals with a gross income more than $250,000. These reforms would end the practice of subsidizing millionaires and would bring daylight to the process so that taxpayers know how their money is spent.
A farmer never knows if it will rain too much or too little, or if pests, disease and other invasive species will damage their crop. That is why crop insurance is important – it provides farmers with the risk protection they need. However, this risk protection must also protect the taxpayers. As we start work on the upcoming Farm Bill, I will continue to fight for crop insurance reform.
