USDA Says Premium Discounts Hiked Protection Policies

July 21,1999

The total number of crop insurance policies in force this year totals about 1.3 million, and many previously insured policyholders have bought higher levels of coverage this year. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman says 170,000 farmers have increased the protection they have in place this year. And it's due mostly to a 30% premium discount, says Glickman.

And the increase policy count "means more assistance will automatically flow to insured farmers suffering a crop loss," Glickman says. The $400 million set aside for the premium discount "was a shot in the arm for many family farmers who have endured several years of falling prices and crop damage."

Along with the premium discount, the Clinton Administration wants Congress to raise the crop insurance coverage floor; make higher levels of protection more affordable; cover multi-year disasters; speed flexible, new risk management tools to market; cover livestock through a pilot program; increase non-insured assistance program protection, and provide more risk management training opportunities.

News of the higher coverage levels comes as a House Agriculture Committee subcommittee prepares to act today on legislation to reform and expand the crop insurance program. The full committee is likely to take up the bill next week, sources said.

Figures show that farmers converted about 91,000 crop insurance policies from the catastrophic level in 1998 to buy-up in 1999. About 120,000 farmers with buy-up crop policies from 1998 bought higher levels of coverage this year, and 43,000 first-time buy-up policies were bought. As of early July, the total number of policies in force had increased by 61,000.