WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, and John Thune (R-SD), Senate Majority Leader and Member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, introduced the Crop Insurance for Future Farmers Act. This bipartisan legislation would help beginning farmers and veterans receive more affordable crop insurance protections by increasing and extending the beginning farmer and rancher crop insurance premium discount from five years to ten years. The Crop Insurance for Future Farmers Act will align the beginning farmers crop insurance programs with the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) other beginning farmer programs. Representatives Randy Feenstra (R-IA) and Angie Craig (D-MN) lead companion legislation in the House.
“Even under the best of circumstances, starting a farm means taking on a great deal of risk. Our bipartisan legislation will support these new farmers, along with our nation’s veterans, by ensuring that they have access to affordable crop insurance, ” Klobuchar said. “Expanding this successful program will provide needed certainty to farmers as they continue to build their farms and grow their businesses.”
“Investing in future generations of farmers and ranchers is critical to growing South Dakota’s agriculture economy and supporting rural communities,” said Thune. “Crop insurance is the cornerstone of the farm safety net, and I’m proud to lead this legislation that would improve its effectiveness for beginning farmers and ranchers by providing more affordable options during their first 10 years of operation.”
“Born and raised in rural Iowa, ensuring that the next generation of Iowa farmers and producers can continue long-held family traditions and grow the food and fuel that our nation and the world depend on is important to me, vital to our economy, and critical to our national security. To keep our farmland in the hands of Iowa farmers and away from China and our foreign adversaries, we need to cut operating costs for our young and beginning farmers so that they can grow, compete, and succeed – instead of calling it quits because of financial barriers,” said Feenstra. “That’s why I introduced the Crop Insurance for Future Farmers Act to lower the cost of crop insurance for the next generation of Iowa farmers during their first ten years in operation – the most vulnerable of any business. This relief will help our young producers plant their roots in our rural communities, promote farm profitability, and strengthen Iowa’s status as the breadbasket to the world. From repealing the federal death tax to cutting the cost of crop insurance, we can invest in the future of Iowa agriculture, keep our enemies away from our farmland, and power our economy forward.”
“New, beginning and veteran farmers rely on farm safety net programs like crop insurance to get their feet underneath them and build successful operations,” said Craig. “I’m proud of the bipartisan work Rep. Feenstra and I are doing to support new and beginning farmers and implement commonsense policies that will help generations of family farmers not only survive but thrive.”
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