WASHINGTON––U.S. Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee Chairman John Boozman (R-AR) joined Senator John Hoeven (R-ND) in introducing the Federal Agriculture Risk Management Enhancement and Resilience (FARMER) Act, legislation to strengthen crop insurance and make higher levels of coverage more affordable for agricultural producers.

“Farmers must have the risk management tools they need to plan for the future. The FARMER Act would make critical improvements to the farm safety net and deliver support to producers across the country who rely on these programs. I appreciate Senator Hoeven for continuing to lead on this issue as we work to provide certainty to America’s farm families,” Boozman said. 

“Crop insurance remains the number one risk management tool for our farmers, but it doesn’t provide the kind of affordable coverage options that all producers need. The result has been the repeated need for ad-hoc disaster assistance. Ultimately, producers buying higher levels of coverage will lessen the need for ad-hoc disaster assistance in the future. That means less emergency spending by the federal government, greater certainty for farmers and a more resilient ag economy. Those are wins across the board,” Hoeven said.

Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-KS), Jim Justice (R-WV), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Deb Fischer (R-NE) and Jerry Moran (R-KS) have cosponsored the bill.

The FARMER Act would:

• Increase premium support for higher levels of crop insurance coverage, which will enhance affordability and reduce the need for future ad-hoc disaster assistance;
• Improve the Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) by increasing premium support and expanding the coverage level, providing producers with an additional level of protection;
• Direct the Risk Management Agency (RMA) to conduct a study to improve the effectiveness of SCO in large counties; and
• Give producers flexibility to make decisions that work best for their operations rather than obligating them to choose between purchasing enhanced crop insurance coverage or participating in Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs.

The bill is supported by the American Farm Bureau Federation, American Soybean Association, American Sugarbeet Growers Association, Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau, Crop Insurance Professionals Association, Farm Credit Council, Midwest Council on Agriculture, National Association of Wheat Growers, National Barley Growers Association, National Corn Growers Association, National Cotton Council, National Sunflower Association, USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council, U.S. Beet Sugar Association, U.S. Canola Association, U.S. Durum Growers Association, Southwest Council of Agribusiness and Western Peanut Growers Association.