Senate Passes Farm Bill – No Crop Insurance Amendments Offered

Senate Passes Farm Bill – No Crop Insurance Amendments Offered

Thursday, June 28 the Senate passed its version of the 2018 Farm Bill by a vote of 86 – 11.

Neither the Durbin/Grassley amendment to apply AGI to the crop insurance program or the Flake/Shaheen amendment to cap premium assistance amendments were offered .There were no harmful amendments offered, adopted or considered by the Senate in its version of 2018 Farm Bill. This sets the crop insurance program up in a strong position going into the farm bill conference between the House and Senate. We should expect no harmful cuts in the 2018 Farm Bill as neither version contains them.

This result could not have been achieved without strong champions in Congress. Chairman Roberts and Ranking Member Stabenow and their staff worked on behalf of the agriculture community as the bill moved through the Senate. Similarly, Chairman Conaway and Ranking Member Peterson and their staff worked to protect the program as the bill moved through the House.

he American Association of Crop Insurers (AACI) joined other crop insurance industry trade associations issuing the following statement after Senate passage yesterday:

"America’s farmers and ranchers scored a major victory today when the United States Senate passed a bipartisan farm bill that maintained the nation’s strong crop insurance infrastructure. For more than a year, producers across the country have called crop insurance a top priority and urged lawmakers to do no harm to crop insurance. We applaud the Senate for heeding famers’ calls and approving a bill that continues to make crop insurance affordable, available and economically viable."

“We also commend the Senate for rebuffing amendments that would have limited participation in crop insurance and affected farmers of all sizes who rely on crop insurance when disaster strikes. We look forward to working with Chairman Roberts and Ranking Member Stabenow and their counterparts in the House to ensure there is a strong crop insurance title in the farm bill conference report. We are pleased to see that the Senate is committed to providing long-term certainty for our producers who count on crop insurance as their number one risk management tool."

Posted Date: 
Friday, June 29, 2018