Crop Insurance Today September 2017 - 23

sive training and education efforts including a certified loss adjuster proficiency program in which all
adjusters must participate.
The industry and the U.S. Department of Agriculture also work closely together to fight fraud,
waste and abuse. There are numerous monitoring,
review, audit and other oversight requirements in
the Standard Reinsurance Agreement and collaborative efforts to deter and identify false claims
have resulted in the pioneering use of data mining,
where thousands of claim reviews are conducted to
ensure a high level of program integrity."
So, back to Challenges and Opportunities;
Industry and RMA must continue to "color between the lines." There are taxpayer and shareholder dollars at stake and both the private and
public sectors must be mindful of the responsibility that entails. "...Every step you take, every
move you make..." We must be ever cognizant
and aware of the sense of reliance and trust that
the farm community and Congressional leaders
have placed on crop insurance.
Although it may sound a bit simplistic and
hopefully not too ostentatious - "a" if not "the"
major challenge and opportunity for the industry
is to "keep on keepin' on."

The NCIS Role

As most of our readers know, NCIS serves as
the primary service organization for the crop insurance industry. NCIS provides a comprehensive
suite of services for the industry ranging from actuarial and analytical support to the development
of crop loss adjustment standards and training for
company staff and loss adjusters. This is accomplished through the financial support and participation of our member companies. We serve as the
only organization to fully service the industry for
both state and federally regulated lines of crop insurance. Currently, all companies participating in
federal crop insurance are NCIS members.
NCIS also serves a critical grassroots, "bootson-the-ground," role for the crop insurance industry. Our network of regional/state, as well
as operational standing committees comprised
of senior member company staff, routinely review industry practices and procedures with the
goal of improving private-sector delivery. For
state-regulated crop insurance, NCIS serves as
a licensed advisory organization for the various
state insurance departments, as well as inter-facing with the National Association of Insurance
Commissioners (NAIC) on crop insurance issues. For federally-regulated crop insurance,

NCIS serves as a liaison between the companies
and RMA to facilitate communication and information exchange in order to continually improve
crop insurance.
As it relates to the upcoming farm bill, NCIS
will serve in an analytical and business process
support role. Given its staffing expertise and experience, NCIS is uniquely positioned to evaluate various farm bill proposals for our membership, and more importantly, as was the case for
the 2014 farm bill, work with RMA to effectively
implement those provisions of the bill that are
specific to crop insurance. In addition, NCIS
will serve to facilitate industry communications
during the process.

"Turn the Page"

This issue of Today® introduces you to Tony
and Belinda Jones, farmers in South Carolina
who raise vegetable crops near St. Helena Island.
The Jones have participated in two of the NCIS
risk management education classes held over
the last three years as part of a grant obtained
through the Risk Management Agency (RMA).
One of the Jones' greatest challenges, besides
deer eating their green beans, is marketing their

crops. They were thankful to be able to attend
the latest three-session class on assessing and
mitigating marketing risks held in Orangeburg,
South Carolina, in May, June and July. We hope
you enjoy meeting the Joneses! This issue also
includes the NCIS agronomic research results
for 2016. The industry investment of studying
how crops respond to damage at various stages
of growth dates back to the early 1920s, and with
ever-changing agricultural technology, remains
a valuable and important service that NCIS provides its members. As Drs. Zarnstorff and Houx
state in their article, it is imperative that the results from 2016 not be used on their own. One
year's data, while extremely valuable, does not
tell the whole story. That is why we rely so heavily on our decades of research to determine if
loss procedures need to be updated or modified.
We wrap up with a profile on Washington wheat
farmer, Mike Abbott, who welcomed us on his
farm last summer just as he was harvesting a
good wheat crop...finally. The two prior years
had been rough and he was happy to tell us why
he appreciates having affordable crop insurance
to protect his farm. We hope you enjoy all that
this issue has to offer!

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crop Insurance Today September 2017