From farmprogress.com:
Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow, D- Mich., sent a memo to committee colleagues Wednesday spelling out five key principles she says will modernize the farm bill safety net. Those principles include targeting programs to active farmers, giving farmers more choice and flexibility, providing assistance in a timely manner, expanding the reach of programs to help more farmers and addressing the risks that emerging farmers face.
Stabenow says crop insurance is a key tool to meaningfully advance each of those goals.
“Whether I’m talking to farmers at a hearing, field day, or local diner, they all emphasize the importance of crop insurance,” she says. “Over time, we have made meaningful improvements, provided more choices for existing coverage, and expanded its reach to cover more crops, varieties, areas, and types of production.”
According to the Senator, crop insurance is working. She notes that while other programs take years to assist farmers after a disaster, crop insurance has provided nearly $30 billion in “timely support” in 2022 and 2023 so far.
Among other proposals, Stabenow wants provide all commodity groups the option of choosing between traditional base programs and a subsidized, streamlined area-based crop insurance policy. The 2018 Farm Bill gave this option to cotton producers.