National Association of Crop Insurance Agents

NACIA Washington Update
January 21, 2010

Thank you to all of you who have contacted your Senators and Member of Congress urging them to sign on to letters of support for the crop insurance program. We are pleased to report that the Senate letter has been sent to Administrator Murphy at RMA, and we expect the House letter to be sent soon. There are also efforts to encourage some Members to send individual letters. If you have not yet contacted your member of Congress, we strongly encourage you to do so.

The Senate letter was signed by 26 Senators – a strong show of support for the program. The letter expresses the importance of the crop insurance program, as well as points out the cuts that occurred during the 2008 Farm Bill. It also highlights ancillary benefits of crop insurance, such as the 18,000 jobs directly connected to the program. This aspect of the crop insurance program often gets overlooked, so it is important to emphasize it. Additionally, the 18,000 figure does not even include the jobs in support of agents, provided by the small businesses that you are a part of or run. The final letter is posted on the NACIA website, and you can view it by clicking here. In addition, the Senate Agriculture Committee has released a joint press release from Chairman Lincoln (D-AR) and Ranking member Chambliss (R-GA). The release can be viewed on the Committee’s website here.

The current SRA status is as follows: last week was the deadline for AIPs to submit comments to RMA. RMA is currently reviewing those comments and will issue a second draft SRA in mid-February, hopefully in line with the industry meetings. Comments on that draft will be due in mid-March, with RMA asserting that the final SRA will come in the beginning or middle of April. NACIA continues to work with other members of the crop insurance industry to lobby against the drastic cuts RMA has proposed and to elicit support for the program from Senators, Members of Congress, and outside organizations. It is vital that we have your support as we fight every day for crop insurance agents. If you haven’t already, please visit our website and send in your 2010 dues. Also encourage other agents to become NACIA members, as our organization is the only organization comprised solely of crop insurance agents. You can join or pay online at our secure website, www.nacia.org.

Other than the SRA, the following USDA news may be of interest:

RMA has responded to comments submitted regarding the Milliman Study. This study is one of the justifications that RMA is using for the deep cuts to crop insurance program they have proposed. View the response here.
USDA has issued an announcement to producers regarding their 2009 crop estimates: “Producers should carefully consider their risk management needs when they choose the most appropriate crop insurance program for their 2010 crops because USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service will be releasing 2009 county crop estimates later than normal.” Details.
USDA has announced the release of $45 million, as provided by the 2008 Farm Bill, for pest and invasive species control. Details.
USDA has released four data sets as part of a open government initiative. The particular data set that may be of interest to you and your clients is regarding the 2007 Census of Agriculture dataset, which provides county-level demographic profiles of U.S. farm and ranch operators from the 2007 Census of Agriculture. Details here and here.

Thank you for your actions in support of the crop insurance program, and as always, please let us know if you have any questions.

Brent W. Gattis
NACIA Washington Representative

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Kathy Fowler, NACIA President, 110 North 6th Street, P.O. Box 368, Memphis, TX 79245
phone: 806-259-1842, toll free: 877-390-9862, toll free fax: 800-848-3216
email: info@nacia.org, web: www.nacia.org
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