According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, for the 2022 crop year, there were 493 million acres of land in the U.S. enrolled in the Federal Crop Insurance Program (“FCIP”). USDA estimated that row crops accounted for half of the acres enrolled in the FCIP in 2021. This article will discuss bills introduced in 2023 by several members of Congress to amend the FCIP. While it is likely that many of these bills will not pass, some may end up being included in the upcoming Farm Bill.
Background on the FCIP
FCIP plays an important role in a producer’s risk management plan and in times of natural disasters, decreased production, and low commodity prices, the FCIP helps support farm income. FCIP is administered by the Risk Management Agency (“RMA”), a division of USDA. RMA manages the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (“FCIC”), which provides premium subsidies for insurance policies for more than one hundred crops. Private insurance companies sell and service the policies. The types of insurance plans vary depending on the commodity. A prior National Agricultural Law Center article discusses an overview of the FCIP.
Crop Insurance Transparency Act
On September 27, 2023, Representative Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, along with one Republican and one Democratic co-sponsor, introduced HR 5747 – The Crop Insurance Transparency Act. According to the sponsors of the bill, transparency is necessary for reform of the program because “[o]ne third of all crop insurance subsidies never make it to farmers, but instead go to massive insurance companies.” The bill would require the Secretary of Agriculture to make annual disclosures to the public indicating, among other things, who receives federally subsidized crop, livestock, or forage insurance and the amount of the premium subsidy and claim payment. The bill was referred to the House Committee on Agriculture on September 27, 2023.
Assisting Family Farmers through Insurance Reform Measures Act
On September 26, 2023, Representative Earl Blumenauer introduced HR 5698 – Assisting Family Farmers through Insurance Reform Measures Act. This bill is similar to the Crop Insurance Transparency Act discussed above in that it would also require public disclosures. However, this bill would also impose an adjusted gross income cap of $250,000 for receiving premium subsidies. Additionally, the bill would impose a premium subsidy cap of $125,000. In other words, producers who have an adjusted gross income greater than $250,000 would not be able to receive a crop insurance premium subsidy and FCIC would not be able to pay premium subsidies greater than $125,000 per year per person. Unlike other USDA administered programs, there are currently no income or premium subsidy limitations for FCIP participants. The bill also provides other payment limitations for producers who are not personally involved in the labor or management of their operation and for producers who have had three or more claims for the same type of loss in a four-year period. The bill was referred to the House Committee on Agriculture on September 26, 2023.
Insuring Fairness for Family Farmers Act of 2023
On July 20, 2023, Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, along with five Democratic co-sponsors, introduced S 2421 – Insuring Fairness for Family Farmers Act of 2023. The bill was introduced in the House of Representatives on July 20, 2023, as HR 4804, by Representatives Andrea Salinas and Earl Blumenauer of Oregon. The bills would modify the calculation of the administrative and operating expense subsidy paid by the FCIC to approved insurance providers. The bills would create minimums and maximums for the subsidy, with limited exceptions. The bills would also require the Administrator of RMA to study the impacts of the subsidy changes on “the distribution of administrative and operating expense subsidies across policies and farming operations, and agent and producer choices on how to insure crops.” The Senate bill was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry on July 20, 2023. The House of Representatives bill was referred to the Agriculture Committee Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, Risk Management, and Credit on August 24, 2023.
Smoke Exposure Crop Insurance Act of 2023
On June 22, 2023, Senator Alex Padilla of California, along with three Democratic co-sponsors introduced S 2134 – Smoke Exposure Crop Insurance Act of 2023. The bill was introduced in the House of Representatives on June 22, 2023, as HR 4308, by Representative Mike Thompson of California, along with nine Democratic and two Republican co-sponsors. According to Senator Padilla, this bill was introduced because “current [crop insurance] products do not fully capture the risks associated with growing grapes in these smoke and wildfire prone states.” The bills would require the FCIC to research and develop an insurance policy to cover wine grapes for losses due to wildfire smoke exposure in California, Oregon, and Washington. The bills would also impose requirements on the FCIC to report the research findings and availability of the policy to the Committees on Appropriations and Agriculture. The Senate bill was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry on June 22, 2023. The House of Representatives bill was referred to the Agriculture Committee Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, Risk Management, and Credit on July 28, 2023.
Crop Insurance for Future Farmers Act
On June 7, 2023, Representative Randy Feenstra of Iowa, along with eleven Republican and eight Democratic co-sponsors, introduced HR 3904 – Crop Insurance for Future Farmers Act. The bill was introduced in the Senate on July 25, 2023, as S 2458, by Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, along with two Republican and one Democratic co-sponsors. The bills would allow farmers and ranchers to receive premium subsidies under the beginning farmer and rancher crop insurance provisions for ten crop years instead of five. The bills would also amend the percentage of premium subsidy for beginning farmers and ranchers. The House of Representatives bill was referred to the Agriculture Committee Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, Risk Management, and Credit on July 28, 2023. The Senate bill was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry on July 25, 2023.
Protecting Mushroom Farmers Act
On June 5, 2023, Representative Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, along with two Republican co-sponsors introduced HR 3815 – Protecting Mushroom Farmers Act. The bill was introduced in the Senate on June 6, 2023, as S 1816, by Senators John Fetterman and Robert Casey of Pennsylvania. The bills would require the FCIC to research and develop an insurance policy that would cover “the production of mushroom growing media; and the production of mushrooms.” According to Representative Houlahan, “[t]his study would analyze various threats to production, such as inclement weather and pests uniquely harmful to mushrooms, and their impact on farmers’ ability to grow mushrooms and maintain profitability.” The bills would also impose requirements on the FCIC to report the research findings to the Committees on Appropriations and Agriculture. The House of Representatives bill was referred to the Agriculture Committee Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, Risk Management, and Credit on July 10, 2023. The Senate bill was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry on June 6, 2023.
COVER Act of 2023
On May 18, 2023, Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, along with two Democratic co-sponsors, introduced S 1690 – Conservation Opportunity and Voluntary Environment Resilience Program At of 2023. The bill was introduced in the House of Representatives on May 18, 2023, as HR 3478, by Representative Sean Casten of Illinois, along with one Republican and one Democratic co-sponsor. The bill would create a Good Steward Cover Crop Program, which would provide insurance premium subsidies to producers who meet two criteria. First, the producer must plant cover crops. Second, the producer must also plant crops that are covered under a FCIC insurance policy. The bill would allow producers who participate in a state cover crop premium subsidy program to also participate in the Good Steward Cover Crop Program created in this bill. Additionally, the bill would create a soil health pilot program to provide insurance premium subsidies to producers who use “innovative soil health practices, as determined by the Secretary [of Agriculture], including conservation crop rotations.” The Senate bill was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry on May 18, 2023. The House of Representatives bill was referred to the Agriculture Committee Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, Risk Management, and Credit on June 23, 2023.
American Prairie Conservation Act
On May 10, 2023, Senators John Thune of South Dakota and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota introduced S 1539 – American Prairie Conservation Act. The bill would require producers who till native sod for production of an insurable crop to complete an acreage report form. The producer would be required to certify the number of acres and provide a map of the acreage. The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry on May 10, 2023.
Agricultural Management Assistance Act of 2023
On March 14, 2023, Senator Christopher Murphy of Connecticut, along with one Republican and Independent co-sponsor, introduced S 795 – Agricultural Management Assistance Act. The bill would expand the scope of risk management education the National Institute of Food and Agriculture may provide. The National Institute of Food and Agriculture would be allowed to provide educational and outreach resources to approved insurance providers and provide approved insurance providers and producers with language translation services. Further, the bill would expand the list of approved uses of agricultural management financial assistance to producers in the current approved list of states. Approved uses would include soil health improvements, integration of livestock, and other conservation practices. Lastly, the bill would increase funding for the Commodity Credit Corporation, which funds domestic price support and conservation programs and international market development programs. The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry on March 14, 2023.
Looking Forward
The Farm Bill provides funding for the FCIP, under Title 11. The total baseline budget for the 2018 Farm Bill was $867 million and crop insurance accounted for approximately nine percent of the budget. The Congressional Research Service estimates that the total baseline budget for the 2023 Farm Bill will be approximately $1.46 trillion and crop insurance will account for seven percent of the total budget. While many of these bills may not pass as individual bills, the bills may be proposed as additions to the crop insurance title for the upcoming Farm Bill.
To read a series of NALC articles discussing crop insurance, click here.
For more NALC resources on crop insurance/disaster assistance, click here.