This is the second year of the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau (CIRB) Emerging Leaders Program and it was so popular last year that this year’s class is almost double in size. Jim Konstanty, PartnerRe, was a member of the first ELP class and we followed up with him this year to see how the program helped him. “It’s really … Read More
Political Forecast from #CIRB2017
Last year at the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau (CIRB) annual meeting, there were still lots of candidates for president and Informa Economics Senior VP Jim Wiesemeyer talked about what they might mean to the future of agriculture. This year, he only had to focus on the one who actually made it to the White House. “It’s a great time … Read More
Meet Emerging Leaders in Crop Insurance
Last year at the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau annual meeting, we heard about the first class of the organization’s Emerging Leaders Program. The program was so popular that the second class has almost twice the members and we had a chance to talk with two of those emerging leaders at the meeting last week. Chock Hefner started his crop … Read More
Challenges and Opportunities for #CIRB2017
The 53rd annual meeting of the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau is officially underway with the theme of Change-Challenge-Opportunity and record attendance, according to Executive Vice President Michael Torrey. “I think it reflects the theme,” said Torrey. “Obviously a transition is going on, there’s going to be a lot of new people, and we’re going to have a lot of … Read More
Crop Insurance Education for Capitol Hill
National Crop Insurance Services (NCIS) is hoping to educate new Congressional staff members and the media about what crop insurance means to American farmers. To that end they’ve created an informational video featuring the knowledge of Tom Zacharias, President of NCIS. “Farming is no easy task. It is one of the riskiest enterprises in the world, defined by uncontrollable conditions … Read More
Enroll Now for ARC or PLC in 2017
If your farm is covered by the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) or Price Loss Coverage (PLC), now is the time to visit you local FSA office to sign contracts and enroll for 2017. Starting this month, the enrollment period will continue until August 1, 2017, says FSA Administrator, Val Dolcini. “FSA issued more than $7 billion in payments in October … Read More
USDA Analyzes Crop Insurance Demand
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has released a report completed by the USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) on the effectiveness of crop insurance. The report, titled How Do Time and Money Affect Agricultural Insurance Uptake? A New Approach to Farm Risk Management Analysis, analyzes the relationship between wealth, savings, and insurance over time to identify alternative approaches to managing … Read More
Final Provisions In Place for Crop Insurance
The Risk Management Agency (RMA) of the USDA says the final safety net provisions from the 2014 Farm Bill are now in place. The new measures help protect farmers and ranchers agains weather disasters, market volatility and other risk factors. Currently the RMA has put interim rules into place to complete provisions for some programs and give them the authority to … Read More
USDA Unveils Streamline Crop Reporting
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) says that farmers and ranchers filing crop acreage reports will now be able to submit common information to be shared electronically with other Farm Service Agency locations or their insurance provider. This new process is part of the USDA Acreage Crop Reporting Streamlining Initiative (ACRSI). This interagency collaboration also includes participating private crop insurance agents and … Read More
ASA Pleased with New Highway Bill
The final legislation for Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act, commonly known as the Highway Bill, is headed to President Obama’s desk for a signature. The funding for road and bridge construction is good news for growers, as is the reversal of $3 billion in cuts to crop insurance that happened in October. The American Soybean Association is pleased with the results of … Read More