Agriculturalists often talk about the importance of ?spreading agriculture?s message.? But what about the importance of crop insurance?
As the House Agriculture Committee prepares to vote on the Senate?s version of the 2018 Farm Bill, also known as the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, a national organization is encouraging farmers to stress the importance of crop insurance to lawmakers.
National Crop Insurance Services recently created a website, designed to help farmers share the value of crop insurance. The website, www.cropinsuranceinmystate.org, allows farmers to relay crop insurances? impact on their operation. It also serves as a resource for lawmakers, who ultimately decide the fate of this resource.
Laurie Langstraat serves as vice president of public relations for National Crop Insurance Services. Langstraat discusses the site?s layout and talks about its features.
?At the heart of the website is an interactive map that allows you to pull up important state-level data about the number of crop insurances policies sold, how many acres the policies cover, the amount of protection those policies provide and how much farmers paid for crop insurance. The site also includes farmer testimonials – from many states – where people can hear directly from farmers where crop insurance has become so invaluable to their operations,? Langstraat said.
National Crop Insurance Services asks farmers to continue to submit testimonials. Langstraat says it?s important for farmers to talk about the role crop insurance plays on their operation, especially as the House and Senate look to meet in conference committee.
?Over the past several years, farmers from coast-to-coast have been very vocal about their desire for Congress to ?Do No Harm? to crop insurance, and Congress has listened. The bills, passed by both the House and Senate, have maintained a strong crop insurance system. The safety net will be essential as farmers and ranchers deal with the depressed economy and weather disasters,? Langstraat said.
To share the positive impact crop insurance has had on your life, contact Laurie at lauriel@ag-risk.org.
