CONGRESSMAN
COLLIN C. PETERSON
Minnesota
- 7th District http://www.house.gov/collinpeterson/
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 26, 2000
CONTACT: Rob Larew @ 202-225-2165
Peterson
Secures Crop Insurance
Fixes and Farm Assistance
WASHINGTON,
DC – Congressman Collin Peterson announced today that the House passed the
$15.5 billion crop insurance reform bill.
“Overall, I believe the reform bill is good for northwest Minnesota
farmers. We made specific
changes to the law that benefits the unique conditions in northwest
Minnesota. Additional farm
assistance was also included that should help farmers struggling against low
commodity prices and disaster. The
bill takes us a step closer to the goal of giving farmers the tools needed
to manage their own risk and succeed,” said Peterson
Peterson,
a senior member of the House Agriculture Committee selected to serve on the
Conference Committee for the bill, noted some of the more important changes
that impact northwest Minnesota. “The
first goal of the bill was to add incentives for producers to buy additional
coverage for their crops. This
was done with additional subsidy assistance, allowing farmers to buy higher
levels of coverage for lower rates. The
bill also allows Actual Production History (APH) adjustments in areas
affected by multiple years of disaster.
Coverage is also made more affordable by tightening the controls on
crop insurance fraud to prevent higher premium costs.”
The
conference committee accepted an amendment by Peterson to fix a problem from
the 1998 multi-year disaster program. At
that time, USDA declared some producers ineligible for assistance due to a
simple change in their taxpayer identification.
“People in my district and across the country were denied needed
help because of a technicality. That
just isn’t right,” explained Peterson.
“My amendment directs the Secretary of Agriculture to recalculate
these cases.”
Another
provision included in the bill by Peterson would benefit wheat and barley
growers who have suffered significant drops in their APH due to scab.
The lower APH makes coverage more limited and more expensive.
Peterson’s language allows producers whose yields are recovering
with the use of disease resistant varieties and other management practices
to raise their APH at the same rate and level as their yields rise.
“My amendment should help speed the recovery for many farmers who
have fought hard against scab damage,” said Peterson.
The bill also contains farm assistance
money. During the committee
debate, Peterson offered a proposal to save $366 million in the market loss
assistance payments in order to make the prorated 1998 and 1999 disaster
payments whole. “Our first
priority should be to fulfill our promise to the farmers who have suffered
losses.” However, the committee opted instead to approve a market loss
assistance payment equal to 1999 Agriculture Market Transition Act (AMTA)
payments. These payments must
be made to eligible producers by September 30, 2000.
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