Federal Crop Insurance Gets Failing Grade

July 21, 2015 Leave a comment


By John Crabtree, johnc@cfra.org, Center for Rural Affairs

At the Center for Rural Affairs, we’ve heard from farmers across the Midwest and Great Plains about the negative impacts of federally subsidized crop insurance for over a decade. A farm safety net is important to help family farmers mitigate risks, but there are real concerns with the current crop insurance program. The best way to begin addressing those concerns is through honest assessment of the crop insurance system.

Toward that end, the Center for Rural Affairs recently released a crop insurance report card, entitled:Promises vs. Performance: A Report Card Evaluating Federal Crop Insurance. Most of the grades awarded are not what parents would hope to see on their own child’s school report, and the accompanying Policy Brief offers further analysis and recommended reforms to improve the performance of the crop insurance system. In overall performance, crop insurance received a failing grade (www.cfra.org/crop-insurance-reform).
Subsidizing the nation’s largest and wealthiest farms on every acre, every year, regardless of crop prices, production or farm profitability, puts America’s natural resources at risk. And, absent reform, crop insurance gives mega-farms an advantage in bidding up land costs, driving their smaller neighbors out of business, and preventing the next generation of farmers from ever getting started.
The impact crop insurance will have on future years of farming practices is significant, making reform of the federally subsidized crop insurance system vitally important to the future of rural and small town America.

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Nebraska Women’s Learning Circle

July 21, 2015 Leave a comment


The Center for Rural Affairs and Women Food and Ag Network are providing an informal, yet highly informative Women Farmer Learning Circle at Prairie Plate Restaurant/Lakehouse Farm in Waverly, NE on August 5, 2015.

 

“Women are invited to join the Learning Circle, whether you’re beginning in farming, interested in becoming a farmer, or already a seasoned farmer.  You’ll hear about resources for financing, land purchase, business planning, cost and value of supporting local growers, marketing, distribution, and more,” says event organizer Sandra Renner with the Center for Rural Affairs.

 

The event begins at 4:30pm with an on-site farm tour. Then participants will hear from speakers while they enjoy a group meal prepared by Prairie Plate, ending with opportunities to network.

 

What: Women Farmer Learning Circle

 

When: Wednesday, August 5, 2015

4:30 p.m.

 

Where: Lakehouse Farm and Prairie Plate Restaurant

10405 Branched Oak Road

Waverly, NE 68462
Since seating is limited, interested participants are asked to register in advance by July 29 to reserve a space. Contact Sandra Renner at sandrar@cfra.org or 402.320.3444 to register or for more information about the event.

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Federal Crop Insurance Gets Failing Grade

July 17, 2015 Leave a comment


The Center for Rural Affairs releases a report card and white paper evaluating the performance of federally subsidized crop insurance programs.
“The time has come for crop insurance reforms that emphasize conserving soil and water, put real limits on subsidies to the nation’s largest farms, and ensures these subsidies are transparent to taxpayers.”
Traci Bruckner, Center for Rural Affairs
On June 3, 2015, the Center for Rural Affairs launched their Crop Insurance Reform Initiative (www.cfra.org/crop-insurance-reform) to address long-standing concerns about federal farm programs and crop insurance subsidies. According to Traci Bruckner, Senior Policy Analyst at the Center for Rural Affairs, evaluating the current state of and functionality of federally subsidized crop insurance programs has been a first-order priority since the very beginning.
“We’ve heard from farmers across the Midwest and Great Plains about the negative impacts of federally subsidized crop insurance for over a decade,” said Bruckner. “A farm safety net is important to help family farmers mitigate risks, but there are real concerns with the current crop insurance program. The best way to begin addressing those concerns is through honest and forthright assessment of the crop insurance system.”
“This report card is our earnest effort to get that assessment started,” added Bruckner. “And this is just the beginning, we will have more analysis, and more recommendations for reform coming out in the coming weeks and months.”
The report card evaluates six categories of performance: reliability, transparency, support it gives to beginning farmers, emphasis on crop diversity, efficient use of taxes, and conservation of soil and water. Along with the report card, the Center for Rural Affairs is also releasing a policy brief, which more fully explains each letter grade provided in the report card.
To view or download the Crop Insurance Report Card and Policy Brief go to:
“By displaying this assessment of crop insurance in a format that everyone is familiar with, we hope to simplify a set of complicated issues and attract the general public to join us in pushing for reforms,” Bruckner explained.
Bruckner also pointed out that while most of the grades we awarded are not what parents would hope to see on their own child’s school report, grades did range from a B to several grades of F. And the accompanying Policy Brief offers further analysis and what reforms could be enacted to improve the performance of the crop insurance system. In overall performance, crop insurance received a failing grade.
“A student who fails overall is usually not allowed to progress to the next grade,” offered Bruckner. “We want to stress that the crop insurance system needs some serious reforms before we can honestly say this is a real safety net that deserves to advance, as is, in the next farm bill debate. The impact crop insurance will have on future years of farming practices is significant, making reform of the federally subsidized crop insurance system vitally important to the future of rural and small town America.”
“Subsidizing the nation’s largest and wealthiest farms on every acre, every year, regardless of crop prices, production or farm profitability, puts America’s natural resources at risk,” concluded Bruckner. “And, absent reform, crop insurance gives mega-farms an advantage in bidding up land costs, driving their smaller neighbors out of business, and preventing the next generation of farmers from ever getting started.”

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The Land of Milk and Uncle Honey

July 10, 2015 Leave a comment


The Center for Rural Affairs welcomes nationally syndicated agricultural columnist Alan Guebert and his daughter Mary Grace Foxwell to Nebraska, where they will read from their recently released book The Land of Milk and Uncle Honey at several locations and dates across Nebraska starting next week. Published by the University of Illinois Press, the book is a collection of personal memories written over the past two decades as part of Guebert’s weekly Farm and Food File column. Each column recalls and reflects on the people, food, and values he learned on the 720-acre, 100-cow southern Illinois dairy farm of his youth in the late 1960s.

 

The Land of Milk and Uncle Honey was recently included on Bon Appetit Magazine’s 20 Food Books to Read This Summer, LA Magazine’s Top 10 Summer Books for Foodies, and Food Tank’s Summer Reading List.

 

“Uncle Honey,” explains Guebert, “was my great uncle who retired from his in-town job to ‘help’ my father on our farm. Several of the stories in the book center on how this gentle, quiet man—truly, a ‘honey’ of a guy—turned into a steel-bending, throttle-breaking terror as soon as he put any tractor into gear, without the use of the clutch, of course.”

 

Guebert’s co-author and daughter, Mary Grace Foxwell, conceptualized, compiled, and edited the book. She also wrote the epilogue which details her own memories of her father and lessons gleaned from her grandparents’ farm.

 

“While the majority of the book’s characters passed away long before I was born,” notes Foxwell, “I have often smiled and laughed hearing their stories, much like my father’s longtime readers. I wanted to honor those people and those values—hard work, honesty, and humility—for generations to come.”

 

Advance reviews describe the book as authentic, humorous, and astute. Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation, notes “Alan Guebert is one of America’s finest writers on the workings and the politics of our food system. This book eloquently describes a rural way of life that’s been lost. But the values of that world—family, community, social justice, a respect for the land—are timeless.”

 

Foxwell and Guebert, whose column appears in more than 70 newspapers across the U.S. and Canada, will read selections from The Land of Milk and Uncle Honey and answer questions. Copies will be available for purchase and signing at the event. The book contains 24 black-and-white photographs from Guebert’s youth on Indian Farm and is available for online purchase through various outlets including University of Illinois Press, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, as well as at bookstores nationwide, and as an e-book. Additional information, including future events and the authors’ contact information, may be accessed at www.farmandfoodfile.com.

 

Book Signing Locations in Nebraska: 

Monday, July 13  

2-4pm  The Bookworm, Omaha, NE

7-9pm  Indigo Bridge Bookstore, Lincoln, NE

 

Tuesday, July 14

7-9pm  City of York Auditorium, York, NE

 

Wednesday, July 15

6:30-8pm Norfolk Public Library, Norfolk, NE
“The Center for Rural Affairs is proud to help promote these events and we strongly encourage attending a nearby reading,” said John Crabtree of the Center for Rural Affairs. “And we encourage everyone to prepare for a free-wheeling discussion that promises to range from reminiscence of the good old days of hard work and simple pleasures on the farm to bare-knuckle debate over the future of rural and small town America… all with some good laughs. In other words, the kind of discussion that Alan Guebert is uniquely gifted to have and facilitate.”

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Stronger Health Care Infrastructure and Healthier Nebraskans: Medicaid Expansion in Nebraska

June 17, 2015 Leave a comment


Center for Rural Affairs report examines economic and income issues of expanding Medicaid
 

LYONS, NE – Today, the Center for Rural Affairs released a Rural Policy Brief examining the basic economic and income issues for all Nebraskans connected to expanding Medicaid. The brief is the second in a series examining findings of the University of Nebraska at Kearney report on the implications of LB 472 and their significance to rural and small town Nebraska.

 

Medicaid expansion in Nebraska will make health care providers, particularly those in rural Nebraska, fiscally stronger, thus ensuring access to health care for all Nebraskans, while also beginning to alleviate health care cost shifting that affects all Nebraskans and Nebraska families. 

Jon Bailey, Center for Rural Affairs

 

To view or download a copy of the Center’s Policy Brief go to: 

http://www.cfra.org/stronger-health-care-infrastructure-nebraska

 

On April 1, 2015, Dr. Allan Jenkins, Professor of Economics at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, and Dr. Ron Konecny, Professor of Management at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, released Nebraska Medicaid Expansion: Protecting a Critical Infrastructure, Supporting Main Street, Improving Worker Health and Productivity (the UNK Report). The UNK Report is an extensive benefit-cost analysis of several factors that should be considered in the debate on LB 472, the Medicaid Redesign Act, and Medicaid expansion in Nebraska.

 

“The UNK report also demonstrates that Medicaid expansion will create a healthier work force in Nebraska,” said Jon Bailey, Rural Policy Director at the Center for Rural Affairs and author of the policy brief. “Evidence from states that have expanded their Medicaid programs show that access to health care by expanding Medicaid leads to better health in numerous ways.”

 

“For low-income workers, lack of access to health care – one issue Medicaid expansion would resolve – leads to issues that affect their ability to work, decreases their productivity, negatively affects employers and their businesses, and contributes to the cycle of poverty for individuals and families,” explained Bailey. “Expanding Medicaid will make people healthier, make them more productive workers, and enhance their workforce longevity. Employers and businesses will also benefit from a healthier and more stable labor force.”

 

According to Bailey’s analysis of the UNK report, Medicaid expansion in Nebraska will also address health care cost-shifting and reduce the “hidden health tax” to individuals. This cost shift results from increased health insurance premiums and higher taxes needed to address the bad debts and charity care of health care providers associated with treated uninsured individuals. Medicaid expansion in Nebraska would directly reduce this cost shifting by $30.6 million in 2015-16 and by a total of $156.1 million by 2019-20.
“Medicaid expansion in Nebraska is a policy and economic winner for the state and those who benefit from the additional health insurance coverage it provides,” concluded Bailey. “Nebraska policymakers need to act on expanding the state’s Medicaid program or face losing all the positive health care, economic and workforce benefits while continuing to foist millions of dollars of uncompensated care onto the premiums of the currently insured.”

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It’s Time to Reform Crop Insurance

May 20, 2015 Leave a comment


By Traci Bruckner, tracib@cfra.org, Center for Rural Affairs 

At the Center for Rural Affairs, we’ve heard from farmers across the Midwest and Great Plains about negative impacts of federally subsidized crop insurance for over a decade. A farm safety net is important to help family farmers mitigate risks, but there are real concerns with the current crop insurance program.

The federal government subsidizes crop insurance, paying 62% of premiums, on average, in 2012. Insurance policies are sold and completely serviced through 19 approved private insurance companies. Not only does the federal government pay the majority of producers’ premiums on every single acre, regardless of how large they are or how much money they make, insurance companies’ losses are also reinsured by USDA. In addition, the federal government reimburses the insurance company’s administrative and operating costs. In total, these insurance companies have lobbied and negotiated for guaranteed profits approaching a 14 percent return on their investment.
However, the current government subsidized crop insurance program is working against the very farmers we all believe deserve a safety net. The program is not transparent, props up private insurance company profits, and puts our natural resources at risk. Moreover, unlimited crop insurance subsidies result in mega-farms driving up land costs, driving their smaller neighbors out of business, and barring the next generation of family farmers from even getting a start.
The time has come for crop insurance reforms that emphasize conserving soil and water, put real limits on subsidies to the nation’s largest farms, and ensures these subsidies are transparent to taxpayers.

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Center for Rural Affairs Sponsors Good Living Tour

May 12, 2015 Leave a comment


Hear Nebraska announced that the Center for Rural Affairs will participate in the inaugural Good Living Tour project as a sponsoring partner. The Good Living Tour is an oral history project and free, all-ages concert series hosted in nine communities across Greater Nebraska, July 17-25.

“We are extremely proud and excited to welcome the Center as an official sponsor of the 2015 Good Living Tour,” said Hear Nebraska Executive Director Andrew Norman. “The Center’s mission to establish strong rural communities in Nebraska by empowering citizens aligns perfectly with this project’s goal to help these communities attract and retain young people. It couldn’t be a better fit.”

 

Tyler Vacha, Director of Development, Engagement, and Operations at the Center for Rural Affairs, states, “It’s great to see new and exciting projects like this come to Rural Nebraska. Hear Nebraska should be commended for taking steps to ensure rural Nebraskans get to experience and support our homegrown musicians. We’re proud to be a partner in making the 2015 Good Living Tour a reality.”
In addition to nine free concerts — each featuring three contemporary, original, Nebraska-based bands of varying genres — the 2015 Good Living Tour includes Hear Nebraska’s production of more than 27 music/arts-related feature stories and videos. This multimedia content aims to highlight some of the artistic and cultural elements that make the host communities great to live, work and play, especially for young people.

The 2015 Good Living Tour takes place in the following towns: Imperial, Ogallala, Scottsbluff/Gering, Valentine, North Platte, Kearney, West Point, Nebraska City and Grand Island.

 

Center for Rural Affairs joins Humanities Nebraska and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment as fiscal sponsors of the project.
 

See the full concert lineup, and learn more about the Good Living Tour:

http://hearnebraska.org/good-living-tour/
About Center for Rural Affairs
Established in 1973, the Center for Rural Affairs is a private, non-profit organization working to strengthen small businesses, family farms and ranches, and rural communities through action oriented programs addressing social, economic, and environmental issues.
 

About Hear Nebraska
Hear Nebraska is a nonprofit organization that cultivates the state’s vibrant, fertile music and arts community. We provide resources and a voice for musicians and members of Nebraska’s creative class and the people and businesses that support them. Learn more: http://hearnebraska.org/about.

 

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For Pete’s Sake

April 25, 2015 Leave a comment


By Jon Bailey, jonb@cfra.org, Center for Rural Affairs 

The Legislature recently voted to delay LB 472, the Medicaid Redesign Act, until the 2016 session. While the bill is still alive, this means another year without access to health insurance for up to 77,000 Nebraskans, another year of health consequences that inaction will demand of them, and another year our rural hospitals are in financial jeopardy.

 

What’s more discouraging is the absolute lack of a reasonable alternative plan to provide access to health insurance for these Nebraskans.

 

Governor Ricketts has suggested two alternatives to the health care access issue facing thousands of modest income, hardworking Nebraskans. First, we should rely on “community health clinics” (we assume he’s referring to Nebraska’s seven Federally Qualified Health Centers). Unfortunately, this is placing a small bandage on a major wound. These clinics exist in Omaha, Lincoln, Norfolk, Columbus, Grand Island, and Gering. A look at a map shows there are vast areas of Nebraska where these services are unavailable. A Valentine resident without insurance would live 200 to 300 miles away from these clinics, for example.
Second, the Governor says we should just create better jobs with health insurance. Unfortunately, no plan is offered on how to accomplish this. In recent years, in fact, Nebraska has one of the lowest rates of employer-sponsored health insurance in the nation. The health insurance access challenges facing thousands of Nebraskans still exists, no matter what a majority of the Legislature and Governor say. We challenge them to work with us on a reasonable, practical solution.

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Unicameral Supports Wind Development

April 23, 2015 Leave a comment


Center for Rural Affairs applauds passage of LB 423

 

Lyons, NE – Nebraska Senators passed LB 423, legislation providing tax credits to renewable energy projects that return profit to Nebraska communities, on it’s first reading by a vote of 25 to 3. The bill now advances to Select File for its second reading.

 

“Today, the Unicameral made a strong statement in support of renewable energy and rural economic development in Nebraska,” said Virginia Meyer, Rural Organizer with the Center for Rural Affairs.

 

“Nebraskans want and deserve an energy future that prioritizes investment in home-grown resources. LB 423 invests in energy development the fulfills that commitment while helping to create good jobs and new tax revenue, while keeping hard-earned energy dollars closer to home.”
Virginia Meyer, Center for Rural Affairs

 

According to Meyer, Nebraska has some of the best wind energy resources in the nation, yet, wind energy only accounts for 4.8% of Nebraska’s energy generation. Wind power is capable of meeting 118 times Nebraska’s current electricity needs, but the state still relies on imports to meet demands for electricity. LB 423 invests in a better, more renewable and sustainable energy future for the state.
“By providing tax credits for renewable energy projects that with at least 25 percent investment in Nebraska resources,  LB 423 focuses on projects that are community based, bringing more of the economic benefit of renewable energy development back to Nebraska communities,” Meyer continued. “The bill supports renewable energy projects that are built in a way that benefits small towns and rural communities the most.  And renewable energy projects – including solar projects –  would qualify for the tax credit, pushing these projects forward across the state.”

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Women Caring for the Land Workshop

April 19, 2015 Leave a comment


Lyons, NE – Women who own or manage farm or ranch land in Cedar and surrounding counties in Northeast Nebraska are invited to participate in a  Women Caring for the Land discussion about soil health, farm conservation options, and available resources. The free program will take place on Monday, May 4 at St. James Marketplace, 89039 570th Ave, St. James, NE.

 

“Women landowners now own or co-own approximately half of Midwest and Great Plains farm and ranch land, and often want to do more to conserve their land and resources. However, many are unsure exactly how to reach their conservation goals and what resources are available to help them. Women Caring for the Land can help,” said Virginia Meyer, with the Center for Rural Affairs.

 

According to Meyer, Women Caring for the Land offers a peer-to-peer, informal discussion format to allow women landowners to talk about their individual land stewardship goals, facilitated by women conservation experts who can share resources available such as USDA conservation programs, state loans, and other tools.

 

The meeting will begin with registration, coffee and resource sharing at 8:30 a.m.  A free lunch will be provided, and during an afternoon field tour participants will travel to a nearby location to observe soil characteristics and conservation practices. The tests will measure for soil structure and stability and infiltration.

 

Meyer suggests participants wear appropriate clothing and footwear/attire as walking a short distance will be required for the field tour.  The group will return to the Marketplace for dessert and wrap-up, with the meeting ending by 3 p.m.

 

Maintaining healthy soil is the key to productivity and environmental health for farmland. Women landowners who attend this meeting will learn to assess and improve the health of their soils through cover crops, no-till and strip-till, and other conservation practices.

 

Meyer also pointed out that all interested women are welcome to these discussions, including owners, operators and inheritors of farmland, regardless of their degree of knowledge regarding conservation.

 

Event Location Details:

Monday, May 4, 2015

8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

St. James Marketplace

89039 570th Ave, St. James, NE.

 

To ensure enough food is provided, interested participants should  RSVP by May 1 to Virginia Meyer at the Center for Rural Affairs – (402) 687-2100 or virginiam@cfra.org. For more information about this program, visit www.womencaringfortheland.org or call 641-430-2540.

 

This session of Women Caring for the Land is sponsored by the Center for Rural Affairs in partnership with the Women, Food and Agriculture Network, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. The series is funded by a grant from the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service Conservation Innovation Grant Program.

 

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