Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - 32
Continued from page 1
and agriculture. It is our job to keep up with
current events and, at the same time, it is also
our responsibility to be able to know what is
"wheat" and what is "chaff " (I know, extremely bad metaphor, but hey that is what crop loss
adjusters do, right?).
In specific reference to "noise" versus
"signal," we have included in this issue of
TODAY® a feature article on a national survey
conducted on behalf of NCIS to demonstrate
the level of support for crop insurance. The results of this survey reveal that the majority of
registered voters view agriculture and farmers favorably. In addition, when asked about
farm policy, these same registered voters indicate that a crop insurance system based on
risk management principles, such as farmers
sharing in the cost of the farm safety net and
shouldering a portion of crop losses through
insurance deductibles, is a fundamentally
sound approach to farm policy. We view these
results as a "signal" despite the voice of farm
policy opponents ("noise") often heard in the
media. All too often, the commonsense solution to managing agricultural risks through
the use of crop insurance does not get past the
noise of "think tank analysts" who make a living attacking farm policy.
In addition to the national survey, another "signal" is the facts on the ground that
demonstrate the reach and impact of crop
insurance for farmers all across the country.
USDA's Risk Management Agency (RMA)
Administrator, Brandon Willis, recently highlighted the data in briefings for both stakeholders and press.
"Year after year for 10 years in a row we are
seeing growth," Willis said."It's a tremendous
success story."
This is due, in no small part, because of the
combined efforts of our public-private partnership to make crop insurance "work for all."
RMA reports that the number of acres
covered by crop insurance increased to 297
million in 2014, up from 265 million in 2009.
Roughly 85 percent of planted acreage for major commodity crops, 74 percent for all fruit
and nut acreage, and 36 percent of vegetable
acres are insured. The number of organic
acres insured has increased by 110 percent
during this same time. Additionally, RMA
and crop insurers helped 13,719 beginning
farmers and ranchers who work more than
32
AUGUST2016
3.5 million acres start their operations and
save more than $14 million through premium
discounts and waived fees.
These facts on the ground are not lost
on agricultural leaders either as a recent oped published in the Sioux Falls, SD, Argus
Leader from the vice president of the largest
farm and agricultural organization can attest.
American Farm Bureau's Scott VanderWal
wrote that crop insurance is the cornerstone
of the farm safety net and "is more critical
than ever" because it "provides protection
against the one thing that even the most resilient farmer cannot defeat - Mother Nature."
"Old fashioned hard work, innovation,
and smart farm policies like crop insurance
will help ensure...a bright future for us all,"
he concluded.
The signal is clear. There is broad and
overwhelming support for a risk management-based farm safety net. A farm safety net
in which farmers are able to plant the crops
that suit them best and a safety net in which
farmers also share the cost.
Non-Judgmental
Awareness
Perhaps our first step into the realm of
Zen Crop Insurance should be the attainment
of "non-judgmental awareness." We can think
of this as the ability to observe an outcome or
set of circumstances and analyze the situation
without hastily applying a connotation or label of good or bad to a given circumstance or
outcome. In other words, we should observe
first, gather all the relevant data, and then put
an issue into context before jumping to a conclusion and making an erroneous decision.
In crop insurance and life in general, this
is not an easy task. The relatively "new wave"
of behavioral economics is replete with experimental research that indicates that our decision making is myopic and inter-temporally
inconsistent. Moreover, we tend to over-emphasize or attach too much credibility to
extreme values and observations from small
samples. (See Daniel Kahneman's Thinking,
Fast and Slow).
At the end of the 2016 we will have observed only two crop years under the 2014
Farm Bill. Provisions of the 2014 Bill were implemented at breakneck speed at a time when
the farm economy weakened considerably-
yet the 2015 crop year was quite good in the
Midwest, while drought continued to plague
California and excessive moisture and flooding damaged crops in the Southeastern United
States. As we move into 2017 and preliminary
debate begins on the next farm bill along with
possible calls for crop insurance reforms, we
would be well served to evaluate our current
circumstance carefully and deliberatively given our limited number of data points. Awareness of the world around us will be key.
Beware of the Transitions
"Watch out for the transitions. They are
times of great danger; when the present situation is ending and the next situation hasn't
yet begun. Those gaps are the places where
awareness can most easily be lost. It's like going through a doorway. If you barge through
without caution, you open yourself to disruption on the other side. In fact, you invite chaos."-Vajra Regent Osal Tendzin (Zen Golf by
Joseph Parent)
As we are all aware, there will be a national
election this year in the United States. Every
four years our citizens have the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to cast their vote
for the highest office in the land. Regardless
of the political outcome, there will be a new
Administration and new faces within that
Administration who will propose changes in
farm policy in some fashion or another. These
changes might be "minor tweaks" or wholesale reforms to the structure of current policy.
"It will be what it will be."
That said, we will have to apply our "Zen"
going forward. We will have to be able to separate the "signal" from the "noise." We will
have to tune our awareness to the actual needs
and effective demands of our customers, that
is, the farmers and ranchers of our country
who work daily in order to ensure that there
is an adequate, safe, and abundant food supply available to us both domestically as well
as across our borders. We will also have to be
open to change. The farm bill and farm safety
net policy now serve multiple constituencies.
Moreover, a much brighter spotlight now
shines on crop insurance. Our fiduciary responsibility to both private-sector shareholders and taxpayers should always be foremost
in our awareness. At the same time, we must
ensure that the milestones that have been
achieved in the farm safety net are not lost.
Both crop insurance and farm policy have
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crop Insurance Today August 2016
No label
Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - No label
Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - Cover2
Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - 1
Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - 2
Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - 3
Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - 4
Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - 5
Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - 6
Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - 7
Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - 8
Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - 9
Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - 10
Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - 11
Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - 12
Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - 13
Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - 14
Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - 15
Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - 16
Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - 17
Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - 18
Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - 19
Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - 20
Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - 21
Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - 22
Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - 23
Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - 24
Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - 25
Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - 26
Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - 27
Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - 28
Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - 29
Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - 30
Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - 31
Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - 32
Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - 33
Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - 34
Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - 35
Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - 36
Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - Cover3
Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/56-2
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/56-1
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/55-4
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/55-3
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/55-2
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/55-1
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/54-4
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/54-3
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/54-2
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/54-1
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/53-4
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/53-03
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/53-02
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/53-01
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/52-04
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/52-03
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/52-02
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/52-01
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/cint/51-04
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/cint/51-03
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/cint/51-02
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/cint/51-01
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/cint/50-04
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/cint/50-3
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/cint/50-2
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/cint/50-1
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/cint/49-4
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/cint/49-3
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/cint/may2016
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/cint/february2016
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/cint/november2015
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/cint/september2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/may2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/february2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/november2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/september2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/may2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/february2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/november2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/august2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/may2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/february2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/november2012
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/august2012
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/may2012
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/february2012
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/44-4
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com