Administration?s Proposed Budget Cuts Crop Insurance

PIA is opposed to the steep cuts to crop insurance once again included in the Trump Administration proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2019, which was released Monday Feb. 12. PIA issued a statement.

The Administration’s budget proposes a $26 billion cut to crop insurance over the next 10 years. The cuts come in the form of an adjusted gross income (AGI) limit for crop insurance of $500,000, a reduction in the average of premium discounts for farmers by 14 percentage points, and a reduction in subsidies to crop insurance companies by asking Congress to legislate a 12 percent cap for underwriting gains.

The budget proposals run counter to remarks President Trump made to the American Farm Bureau’s annual convention on Jan. 8, when he expressed support for crop insurance premium subsidies in the upcoming Farm Bill.

“We thought the president had come around to supporting crop insurance, but the Administration’s proposed budget tells a different story,” said Jon Gentile, Vice President of Government Relations for PIA National. “These proposed cuts would not only hurt farmers and the agriculture community, but also would harm the independent insurance agents who work diligently to sell and service crop insurance policies on behalf of the Federal Crop Insurance Program.”