Lugar Promises Crop Insurance Action by March 8

November 8, 1999

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Richard Lugar (R-IN) has promised to report a crop insurance-risk management bill no later than March 8. However, he left the door open for quicker action by saying the committee will mark up a bill "as soon as there is agreement on consensus legislation."

A fierce debate has been underway among committee members over whether the committee should approve Lugar's risk management bill or a bill by Sens. Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Bob Kerrey (D-NE). Lugar's announcement came the day after a group of House members urged the Senate to take up a crop insurance reform bill before adjourning for the year.

Lugar's formal statement on the issue says the committee "continues to develop risk management legislation that includes crop insurance reform and greater incentives for farmers to manage their risk. We continue to make good progress. As soon as there is agreement on consensus legislation, the committee will hold a mark-up on the bill" but said that would happen in any event no later than March 8.

Lugar said he has offered three compromises in committee: first to offer farmers a choice between different approaches, second to offer a 13-state pilot project and third to offer an eight-state pilot project. Each has been rejected, he said.

"The committee has continued to work on a consensus bill, and we will work to bring the parties together during the congressional recess," says Lugar, an indication the committee members remain some distance away from a consensus.

Roberts and Kerrey have offered a bill that is more similar to the House bill than Lugar's. Lugar's bill would make direct payments to farmers if they agree to use certain risk management strategies. A third bill has been offered by Sens. Thad Cochran (R-MS), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and others.

The crop insurance debate was laid out in a page 1 article in THE WASHINGTON POST Sunday that noted environmentalists blame some of the water pollution in the Minnesota River and other waterways on crop insurance. "They say its heavy subsidies encourage farming on millions of acres of America's most flood-prone land by reimbursing crop losses when rivers overflow," according to the article.

However, crop insurance defenders note that most insured land is also covered by income or price supports under the "freedom to farm" law. Almost all such acreage has a USDA conservation plan, required as a condition of assistance.