Crop Insurance and Southern Agriculture:  What You Need To Know

 


Provided with generous support from Banks Law Firm, PLLC

workshop

 

Topic:

Federal crop insurance has long been a key risk management tool for agricultural producers, as well as for lenders and others who work with producers.  Current Congressional debate over the “2012 Farm Bill” strongly indicates that crop insurance will become an even greater part of farm risk management for agricultural producers, especially in light of likely elimination of direct payments and the “safety net” of the traditional farm program under the Farm Bill.  The importance of this shifting policy landscape and crop insurance is applicable nationwide, and is especially important for southern agricultural crop and livestock producers.  In light of these coming changes, it is imperative that producers, lenders, extension personnel, and others involved in southern agricultural production have a foundational understanding of key aspects of current and proposed changes to federal crop insurance.  In addition, a foundational understanding of the crop insurance program will help producers and others more easily navigate and prepare for the claims loss process, and for those instances in which a loss claim is denied.

This webinar presentation will provide foundational knowledge on the federal crop insurance program with a focus on southern agriculture.  In addition, the webinar will include objective information on:

  • Update on current federal policy debate regarding crop insurance, including unique aspects for livestock producers;
  • Key terminology producers and others should be aware of in navigating legal and other important aspects of crop insurance;
  • Critical resources for updates and information on legal and other crop insurance issues;
  • Discussion of legal considerations that should be considered once a loss occurs; and
  • Legal significance of representations made by crop insurance agents to producers.

The webinar presentation is the first in a series of educational webinars provided by the National Agricultural Law Center with generous support from the Banks Law Firm, PLLC that focuses on the impact of the proposed and likely changes for the 2012 Farm Bill debate and other issues impacting agricultural production in the southeast United States.

This free webinar is designed for anyone – producers, extension personnel, lenders, and others – interested in updated information on the current status of the 2012 Farm Bill, a foundational understanding of crop insurance, and the emerging role that federal crop insurance will play for agricultural production and related industries in the southern United States.

Webinar:

Date: Thursday,  June 21, 2012

Time: 12 p.m. to  1 p.m. (EDT) / 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. (CDT)

Cost: Free of Charge

To participate in the webinar:

Participating in the webinar is very easy, even if this is  the first webinar in which you have participated.  At 12 EDT, simply click  here: https://connect.extension.iastate.edu/aglaw and sign in as a guest.  Before viewing the webinar, please visit the  following URL to confirm your ability to connect to the server: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/testconnect/.

Link to the audio webinar presentation

Presenters:

Harrison Pittman, Director of the National Agricultural Law Center at the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. The Center is the nation’s leading source of  agricultural and food law research and information, serving the nation’s  agricultural community consisting of producers, attorneys, state and federal  policy makers, extension personnel, and others throughout the United  States.

Mr. Pittman has an extensive  background in agricultural and food law and has served in multiple capacities  at the Center since 2001. He received his J.D. from the University of Arkansas  at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law, after attending Mississippi  State University and graduating the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He  earned an LL.M. in Agricultural Law from the University of Arkansas School of  Law’s Graduate Program in Agricultural Law. Mr. Pittman teaches Environmental and Natural Resources  Law and Introduction  to Agricultural Law in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural,  Food, & Life Sciences, Department of Agricultural Economics and  Agribusiness. He is an active member of the American Agricultural Law  Association (AALA), and was the first recipient of the AALA’s Excellence in  Agricultural Law award in 2010. Mr. Pittman has taught at the University of  Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law as part of the Ben J.  Altheimer Distinguished Professorship for Agricultural Law.

Grant Ballard, Research Consultant to the National Agricultural Law Center, primarily  working with federal crop insurance, farm bill issues, and other issues  relative to agricultural producers. Mr.  Ballard is a practicing agricultural attorney and an associate with the Banks Law Firm PLLC, in Little Rock,  Arkansas, a firm that represents agricultural producers. Mr. Ballard focuses a  portion of his agricultural law practice on the representation of farmers in  regard to crop insurance disputes and has written on crop insurance litigation  in the past. Mr. Ballard assists in Center research and information activities,  including publishing factsheets and other articles such as Filing  a Crop Insurance Claim: An Overview for Producers and The  Federal Crop Insurance Program:   Administration, Structure, and Operation. His Practitioner’s Guide to the Litigation  of Federally Reinsured Crop Insurance Claims is scheduled to be  published in the Drake Journal of Agricultural Law in the fall of 2012. He  received his Juris Doctor from the University of Arkansas School of Law and  recently completed his LL.M., in Agricultural Law. In his private practice, Mr.  Ballard will give legal counsel to agricultural producers in a variety of areas  including: crop insurance, commercial agricultural disputes, and issues  involving the United States Department of Agriculture farm programs as well as  U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Environmental Protection Agency enforcement actions.