NACIA Washington Update
April 21, 2009

Just a reminder, the House Agriculture Committee, Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management will be holding a hearing at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow entitled “To review producers’ views on the effectiveness and operations of the Federal crop insurance program.” The Subcommittee has scheduled two panels with a total of ten witnesses, listed below. If you would like to listen or watch, please visit the House Agriculture Committee website by clicking here. NACIA will be in attendance and will provide you with a summary of the hearing shortly after its conclusion.

Panel I

• Dr. Chad E. Hart, Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa
• Mr. Bob Stallman, President, American Farm Bureau Federation, Washington, D.C.
• Mr. Roger Johnson, President, National Farmers Union, Washington, D.C.

Panel II

• Mr. Rickey Bearden, cotton, grain and peanut producer, and Chairman, Crop Insurance Task Force, National Cotton Council, Plains, Texas
• Mr. Steve Bennett, General Manager and Partner, Riverbend Nurseries, on behalf of the American Nursery and Landscape Association, Thompson's Station, Tennessee
• Mr. Jarrod Spillman, sorghum, wheat, corn, soybean, sunflower and cow-calf producer, on behalf of the National Sorghum Producers, Hoxie, Kansas
• Mr. John Owen, rice producer, and President, Northeast Louisiana Rice Growers Association, on behalf of USA Rice Federation, Rayville, Louisiana
• Mr. Michael Robichaux, sugarcane farmer, on behalf of the American Sugar Cane League and the Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation, Franklin, Louisiana
• Mr. Bing Von Bergen, wheat producer, President, Montana Grain Growers Association, Board Member, National Association of Wheat Growers, Moccasin, Montana
• Mr. Mike Clemens, wheat, corn, soybean, sunflower, and dry bean producer, and Vice Chair, Public Policy Action Team, National Corn Growers Association, Wimbledon, North Dakota
  

Brent W. Gattis
NACIA Washington Representative