U.S. Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee Chairman John Boozman (R-AR) has introduced the Federal Agriculture Risk Management Enhancement and Resilience (FARMER) Act alongside Senator John Hoeven (R-ND). This legislation aims to bolster crop insurance and make higher levels of coverage more accessible for agricultural producers.
“Farmers must have the risk management tools they need to plan for the future. The FARMER Act would make critical improvements to the farm safety net and deliver support to producers across the country who rely on these programs. I appreciate Senator Hoeven for continuing to lead on this issue as we work to provide certainty to America’s farm families,” Boozman stated.
Hoeven added, “Crop insurance remains the number one risk management tool for our farmers, but it doesn’t provide the kind of affordable coverage options that all producers need. The result has been the repeated need for ad-hoc disaster assistance. Ultimately, producers buying higher levels of coverage will lessen the need for ad-hoc disaster assistance in the future. That means less emergency spending by the federal government, greater certainty for farmers and a more resilient ag economy. Those are wins across the board.”
The bill is cosponsored by Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-KS), Jim Justice (R-WV), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Deb Fischer (R-NE), and Jerry Moran (R-KS).
Key provisions of the FARMER Act include increasing premium support for higher levels of crop insurance coverage, enhancing affordability while reducing reliance on ad-hoc disaster assistance; improving and expanding premium support under the Supplemental Coverage Option; directing a study by the Risk Management Agency to enhance SCO effectiveness in large counties; and providing flexibility in choosing between enhanced crop insurance or participating in ARC and PLC programs.
The bill is backed by numerous agricultural organizations including the American Farm Bureau Federation, American Soybean Association, Crop Insurance Professionals Association among others.
