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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - June 20, 2000
For more information contact Laurie Langstraat at 913-685-2767.
CLINTON SIGNS SIGNIFICANT AGRICULTURE LEGISLATION
President Clinton signed the Agricultural Risk
Protection Act of 2000 today in Washington, DC.
The
new law, passed with broad bipartisan support in Congress under the leadership of Senator
Richard Lugar (R-IN), Chairman of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry
Committee, and Representative Larry Combest (R-TX), Chairman of the House Agriculture
Committee, focuses public support for agricultural disasters into the federally subsidized
crop insurance program.
Now producers who invest in crop insurance will find
that the subsidies for their premiums have increased dramatically, especially at the
higher buy-up levels of coverage.
The legislation, informally known as the “Roberts/Kerry
Plan” was shepherded through Congress by Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Senator Bob
Kerry (D-NE).
“By providing producers more affordable levels
of coverage, there should be less need for Congress to pass emergency assistance on a
year-to-year basis,” said Sen. Roberts, who also is quick to point out that the new
law also, “toughens fraud and abuse provisions to protect the integrity of the
program.”
The bill passed the Senate with a 91-4 vote after
nearly a year of negotiations.
“It’s been a long road,” said Sen.
Kerry. “Congress has sent a positive
message to our farmers by giving them what they asked for – more affordable coverage,
equity for
Under the new law, revenue insurance policies, such
as the popular Crop Revenue Coverage (CRC), will have the same levels of federal subsidy
as the traditional Multiple Peril Crop Insurance (MPCI).
With Clinton’s signature, the Agricultural Risk
Protection Act of 2000 helps ease next year’s Congressional workload.
The comprehensive Farm Bill is scheduled for
re-enactment in 2001.
The crop insurance industry welcomed the new ground
rules for their industry.
“This law will help farmers survive, and
hopefully give them a better chance at some profitability.
That is the core issue for everyone involved with agriculture,” said
Bob Parkerson, president of National Crop Insurance Services, the nonprofit trade
association of the industry.
By making higher levels of crop insurance more
affordable, the law solidifies crop insurance as the cornerstone of government involvement
in agricultural risk management. Through
investing in the risk management strategy that farmers must also invest in, the federal
government is choosing to leverage tax dollars and extend the impact of its investment in
rural communities.
Many industry observers are hoping that not only
will producers buy up to more adequate levels of coverage, but also that more of them will
use the protection provided by higher levels of coverage to forward price more of their
crops. The Economic Research Service has
established that producers who use crop insurance in tandem with a forward pricing
mechanism increase their profits more than those who only buy insurance or only forward
price.
Both USDA and the private crop insurance industry
have plans to continue their campaign to help producers improve their risk management
skills and get more value from their investment in crop insurance.
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