Record-High Crop Insurance Subsidies Are Unsustainable
The federal crop insurance program is the most expensive program authorized in the farm bill, excluding nutrition spending, and is a primary driver of monoculture commodity production in the United States. Record-high taxpayer subsidies benefit private insurance companies and a small number of the largest commodity farms, while most farmers are unable to access insurance at all. NSAC believes that the 2023 Farm Bill is an opportunity to reform the farm safety net by capping wasteful crop insurance spending and investing in on-farm resilience.
The farm safety net’s lost purpose
For decades, the farm bill’s farm safety net has had the same goal: to provide farmers some degree of protection against unpredictable disasters or sudden price declines, allowing them to stay in business for another year while providing for family living expenses.
Today’s farm safety net includes permanently authorized commodity …