WAWG
From the National Association of Wheat Growers
Sens. Bennet (D-Colo.) and Marshall (R-Kan.) have introduced new legislation to improve the flexibility of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) crop insurance programming for wheat farmers facing unprecedented drought.
Currently, farmers do not have the option through the USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA) to separately ensure enterprise units by fallow or continuous production and must combine them — limiting farmers’ ability to benefit from federal crop insurance programs. This bill would direct the RMA to provide more options to wheat farmers and ensure that both fallow and continuously grown crops can be covered by separate enterprise units.
“The National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) appreciates the work that Sens. Bennet and Marshall put into helping give wheat farmers a better, more flexible safety net,” Jake Westlin, NAWG vice president of policy and communications, said about the newly proposed bill. “This bill allows farmers’ crop insurance coverages to be more reflective of their cropping systems. Many farmers use a fallow rotation to manage pests and take care of their ground. Allowing enterprise units to be separated based on fallow and continuous cropping systems is a continuation of the evolution of enterprise units. NAWG thanks the senators’ efforts and looks forward to getting this bill included in the farm bill.”
NAWG will continue to advocate for this bill that gives wheat farmers in drought-stricken regions the flexibility to selectively insure their crops to increase the safety net and ensure that producers can continue producing wheat.”
Read more about the bill here.