Now standing firmly one month into 2023, we can look back at the previous year with pride that we were able to meet many of its challenges with the stability and confidence our agricultural community offers to help feed and clothe our country and world. As we embark on what I hope to be a productive and successful year for American agriculture, let us take time to reflect upon another point of pride for American agriculture – a strong and well-run crop insurance program that is the envy of the world and one that ensures you all can continue to do your jobs in the face of uncertain weather and markets.
The growth of federal crop insurance has been phenomenal over the last two decades with the program now providing almost $200 billion in protection for 600 crops compared to about $30 billion in protection for 300 crops in 2000. The tremendous growth is due in large part to the hard work of Risk Management Agency (RMA) employees, grower group organizations, congressional officials, crop insurance companies, agents and adjusters, and countless others who have contributed time and effort to making sure the program provides the tools farmers need to protect their risk.
One key reason for success of the program is the confidence taxpayers have in the program. Last year, the program’s improper payment rate was 2.58%, which makes the eighth straight year of maintaining an improper payment rate below 3%. This program continues to have one of the lowest improper payment rates in government, and we plan to keep it that way. We work diligently to not only hold bad actors accountable, which are few, but also to be proactive in identifying areas that create errors. This low rate is a testament to producers, agents, companies, and RMA employees.
Another key contributor to the growth of the program is responsiveness both in terms of payments and policy enhancements. When disaster strikes, farmers receive payments within weeks or months rather than years. As a farmer myself, I know firsthand how vital it is for a farm to have this certainty. It’s not only vital for farmers but all those who serve them in rural communities across America. Main street in rural America benefits greatly from the certainty crop insurance provides – from the input suppliers to the local clothing store – crop insurance ensures a natural disaster does not devastate an entire community. In addition, this year RMA provided data to support a quicker and simplified disaster relief program that made sign up easier for producers and county offices.
Similarly, the program has been incredibly responsive as indicated by the tremendous growth. From cucumbers to cattle – the program has grown to cover just about everything. Just last year, we made key changes to several policies based on direct producer feedback such as expanding revenue protection to oat and rye growers and expanding eligibility for our Whole Farm Revenue Protection and Micro Farm policies.
We’re also responsive to what is happening in the world around us. In response to the War in Ukraine, we took steps to help boost production we simplified sign-up for double cropping coverage and expanded its availability in about 1,500 counties for the 2023 crop year. These efforts will help enable agricultural producers to have coverage on two crops on the same land each year, such as spring planted soybeans or grain sorghum following the harvest of a crop such as winter wheat.
Through the pandemic, RMA continued to serve producers and learned to become even more productive and efficient in new ways. In the past year, we have worked diligently to ensure the crop insurance program works well for all producers, especially underserved producers. In 2021 and 2022, RMA invested almost $6.5 million in partnerships with 27 organizations to provide risk management education as well as to train and equip the next generation of crop insurance agents, adjusters, and outreach educators about crop insurance options. The employees at RMA truly care about their work and serving producers and it shows as RMA was named for the third year in a row as USDA’s Best Place to Work in the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey. But we are far from finished. As administrator, I have traveled from California to Connecticut and have met with everyone from corn farmers to oyster farmers. The program still has growth potential, and RMA is here to listen. As our record indicates, we are open to changes and are eager to make them if there is a need, and it would be prudent to do so.
I encourage you to work through your organizations, or even contact your local Regional Office if there is an improvement you think we can make to the program.
In closing, let us continue to work together to make the program something we all can be proud of and rely upon to continue to do what we do best.
Find contact information for our regional offices as well as Approved Insurance Providers on rma.usda.gov. Marcia Bunger can be reached at marcia.bunger@usda.gov.
Topics Agribusiness
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