Apr 27, 2009

ANLA Member Testifies During House HearingsSource: ANLA

Steve Bennett of Riverbend Nurseries recently represented the American Nursery & Landscape Association at a hearing concerning the federal crop insurance program. The House Committee on Agriculture’s subcommittee on general farm commodities and risk management called the hearing to solicit feedback from growers on the effectiveness and operational efficiency of the program.

Bennett shared some of the challenges that Riverbend – and many other nurseries – had experienced working with the crop insurance program following the 2007 Easter weekend freeze.

“At present, the federal crop insurance program falls short of adequately addressing the extreme diversity and unique situations presented by a free-market segment of agriculture that grows thousands of varieties – in every state,” Bennett said. “Despite these challenges, federal crop insurance programs remain a valuable component of the nursery industry’s risk-management practices.”

Bennett complimented the committee on its past improvements to the program, including:

• Using a grower’s wholesale price list as the basis for coverage valuation based upon proof of market. Now, a grower who buys up may use their own price lists, while those who purchase only a catastrophic coverage policy are limited to the USDA Risk Management Agency’s price list
• Coverage for plants grown in smaller than three-inch containers
• Having field grown and containerized plants treated as separate crops

He also provided additional recommendations for improvements to the program, based on the special considerations necessary for insuring and valuing diverse nursery crops, as opposed to the row crops that have guided the development of many federal crop insurance policies and practices.

For the full testimony, visit www.anla.org.