Crop Insurance How Effective Is Private Sector Delivery
October 11th, 2007 by David Graves
How well have private companies performed in outreach to farmers across the nation?
Statement by RMA Administrator Eldon Gould before the House Agriculture Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management, June 7, 2007:
“The Federal crop insurance program has experienced extraordinary growth in the last quarter century. In crop year 2006, through the private sector delivery system, RMA provided $49.9 billion of protection (insured liability) to farmers on approximately 370 commodities, covering nearly 80 percent of eligible acreage of major U.S. crops. This coverage was offered through 21 plans of insurance and approximately 1.1 million policies insuring about 242 million acres. In 2005, crop insurance provided approximately $2.4 billion in indemnity payments to farmers and ranchers. For 2006, indemnity payments to farmers totaled approximately $3.4 billion. In 2007, we will reach an estimated $68 billion in insurance protection for American agriculture.
The Federal crop insurance program is working as intended and is meeting its targeted loss ratio.