The 2011 crop year continues to face a trifecta of weather-related anomalies that have hit America’s heartland and have cast a long shadow over the highly optimistic projections for crop yields and farm incomes.
First, there’s the historic late planting. According to Darrel Good, a University of Illinois Agricultural Economist, the percentages of the U.S. corn and soybean crop planted late this season are amongst the largest in the last four decades. The combination of wet and cold weather made it impossible for many farmers to get into their fields early in the year.
Amid the long list of federal projects costing taxpayers far more than predicted, one policy stands alone by coming in billions under budget.
From 2007 to 2011, this policy trimmed taxpayer spending 31 percent when compared to the same four-year period a decade earlier. It even found room to contribute to deficit reduction in recent years at a time when others searched for additional funds.
I’m talking about the farm safety net, and if you’re surprised, it’s understandable.
The 2012 budget will likely include modifications and reductions to the farm safety net. Policy makers should consider 12 essential strengths that make crop insurance the corner stone of the farm safety net programs. In this on-going series, we’ll introduce one strength of crop insurance per month and explain how the sum of these strengths has given us the successful program we have today.
Strength: Producers must take active personal responsibility for risk management choices.
Producers, not the federal government, design and purchase their own crop insurance programs, which are tailored to their specific situations and needs.
The 2011 crop year continues to face a trifecta of weather-related anomalies that have hit America’s heartland and have cast a long shadow over the highly optimistic projections for crop yields and farm incomes. 
Amid the long list of federal projects costing taxpayers far more than predicted, one policy stands alone by coming in billions under budget.
