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"Without the safety net we are one bad crop away from being out of business."

Rep. Arrington, Justin and Kevin Corzine said [in part]:

Rep. Arrington: Why is it important for the American people to know what you do and how it impacts them and that we have policies and a safety net that work for folks like you?

Justin Corzine: Well I think it’s important because we’re out here doing what we love. We are out here to feed and clothe people, and just continue to grow these crops so that we are sustainable and independent from foreign requirements of bringing in cotton and things like that. I think it is important, the safety net side of it, because without the safety net we are one bad crop away from being out of business.

Rep. Arrington: We are talking about cotton right now, specifically because it is the only commodity that’s not in the Farm Bill Title I safety net. we’ve got safety net support on the crop insurance for weather risk, but there’s a tremendous amount of market risk out there. I don’t think people fully appreciate the competitors like China and India, and some of the advantages, major advantages, over our producers. Why is it important that cotton gets back into the Title I safety net for farmers?

Kevin Corzine: Without having it covered as a commodity under Title I, it’s basically one disaster away from me not being able to make it on the farm. We are competing on a global level here. I can’t really change the way that the prices are going to be in other parts of the world. So for me to stay in business, I really need to have some type of safety net there to keep me going.

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