Press Releases

Congressman Jerry Moran, Chairman of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management, today chaired a hearing to review crop insurance for program crop producers, including corn, cotton, grain sorghum, soybeans, wheat and other crops covered by commodity program provisions under the 2002 Farm Bill.

“Producers have faced a variety of regional disasters in recent years, including persistent drought conditions in some areas of the country, flooding, hail, and most recently, damage from Hurricane Isabel,” Moran said. “Crop insurance is critical to withstanding these challenges, and this series of hearings is helping to reveal improvements necessary to make the program a more effective risk management tool.”

The subcommittee heard from five witnesses:

- Mr. Woody Anderson, Vice Chairman, National Cotton Council, Colorado City, Texas

- Mr. Leo Bindel, Producer, Sabetha, Kansas, on behalf of the National Grain Sorghum Producers Association

- Mr. Ron Litterer, Chairman, Public Policy Action Team, National Corn Growers Association, Greene, Iowa

- Mr. Bob Metz, Producer, Browns Valley, Minnesota, on behalf of the American Soybean Association

- Mr. John Thaemert, Chairman, Domestic Policy Committee, National Association of Wheat Growers, Sylan Grove, Kansas

The hearing focused on the availability of insurance products and adequate coverage levels, changes that have been made as a result of the implementation of the Agriculture Risk Protection Act (ARPA), and improvements that could enhance the ability of crop insurance to better manage risk for producers.

This hearing is the third in a series of hearings to review crop insurance by commodity and region, with today’s hearing providing an overview of the crop insurance program for commodity crops, grown primarily in the midwest, southeast, and southwest areas of the U.S. Next week, Moran will chair a hearing focusing on crop insurance for specialty crops.

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