Crop Insurance groups oppose a recent Government Accountability Office report the industry says is fraught with recommendations that would dismantle the successful public-private partnership that delivers federal crop insurance.
In a joint statement, the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau, National Crop Insurance Services, and American Association of Crop Insurers say the report contains several recommendations that would result in reduced participation in the long run. The groups say GAO mischaracterized the economics of the delivery system when it states that “the increase in crop prices did not increase the workload to sell and service the policy.”
This statement ignores the fact that since 2011 the crop insurance industry has worked with USDA to implement both the 2014 and 2018 Farm Bills. Both of these pieces of legislation increased the availability of crop insurance products nationwide. New crop insurance products have since been developed along with specialty crop and livestock product expansion.
The industry charges that the workload has, in fact, increased to meet the risk management needs of America’s farmers and ranchers.
