As lawmakers in Washington, D.C. get back to work, there are a few days left to finish an on-time farm bill. More likely to be completed after an extension of the current farm bill, which expires at the end of this month, farmers with the National Corn Growers Association are beating the drum on crop insurance.
“From day one, we’ve been stressing that we want crop insurance left alone, that we do not need to start taking things away from it because the American corn farmer enjoys using it because it’s a good safety net in his toolbox,” according to NCGA President Tom Haag. “And without it we’d have to be asking the government for more money. So, that is our biggest concern is crop insurance when it comes to the farm bill.”
Haag says he believes their message is loud and clear to lawmakers.
He says, “I think it’s getting through because I’ve testified twice out in D.C. in the Ag Committee and the last time that I did, the last four or five people that were from ag states asked me the questions is how important it is for crop insurance. So, I think the corn states know exactly the whole important from nationals point of view, where we stand.”