Farm Business

[MoInfo]

With the Farm Bill due to be re-written this year (should Congress actually decide to work together enough to pass a piece of legislation) there will be many forces at work to craft legislation to their special interest.  Certainly more attempts at cutting the USDA budget will be at the forefront.  We also can be assured that almost none of the budget cuts will come from the entitlement programs that consume the lion's share of the USDA budget, (i.e. Food stamps, WIC, etc.) will not be touched.  Last year, during Congress' Budget Reconciliation USDA, in "stealth mode" cut nearly $8billion from their budget.  This was done by cutting the compensation Approved Insurance Providers(AIP's) were paid for delivering crop insurance products to farmers.  Not only was company compensation lowered, but USDA's Risk Management Agency (RMA) dictated to the AIP's a fixed, lower level of compensation to agents delivering the service of their policies to farmers.  I use the term "stealth" because very few farmer/voters knew these cuts were even made.

With that background on an issue I believe farmers should rightly be concerned, there's another shoe that's about to drop.  Last week, prior to their annual Washington D.C. Legislative conference, the National Assn. Of FSA State and County Employees (NASCOE) revealed a study they commissioned, done by Informa Economics, which purports to save the American Tax Payer vast sums by removing the administration of USDA's Crop Insurance programs from private enterprise,  and having it delivered by FSA employees.  The information was an "Action Alert" for NASCOE members to contact the congressional delegation.

As a farm operator the past 40 years, and a crop insurance agent the past ten years, this issue has long been on collision course.  The upcoming Farm Bill debate, with further obvious cuts in USDA programs a likely outcome,  FSA employees rightly question how long their positions will be needed.  Surely, haven't you've questioned why you must report your crop acres to two government agencies who admittedly share their data? 

My question, "Who do you want to sit down with to develop an effective risk management plan?"  If left unchallenged, I believe the current Washington attitude of, "government can provide" will win out.  To that I simply ask you to look at the United States Postal Service.  If government can best provide, why do we have UPS, FEDEX and Email?  Times they are a-changin'.