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Crop insurance agent says PP changes were ‘a bad idea’

A Nebraska-based crop insurance agent says the USDA’s decision to lower prevent plant coverage in 2017 was “a bad idea”.

Ruth Gerdes of Auburn, Nebraska testified today before a House Agriculture subcommittee, on behalf of the Crop Insurance Professionals Association (CIPA).

“OIG at USDA conducted an audit and concluded, based solely on the five years of the highest prices we’ve ever had for commodities, that prevent plant coverage should be lowered,” Gerdes said. “That happened and we would tell you, as CIPA did then, it was a bad idea.

“How bad of an idea? One particular farmer—an average farm—had 553 dollars an acre in guarantee under prevent plant in 2012. With all these changes forced upon the industry, we’re now at 330 dollars on that exact same farm that has a higher APH.

“So it’s not surprising to me that prevent plant was included in the disaster bill,” Gerdes said.

The change to prevent plant coverage in 2017 was recommended USDA auditors, who said that the higher payout rates “inadvertently provided incentives to encourage prevented planting claims.”