Wheat and canola grower Wes Weible led a North Dakota delegation before the National Farmers Union’s Policy Committee on Sunday asking inclusion of a pointed save-crop-insurance statement in the policy resolutions that NFU would adopt at its annual convention in Kansas City, Mo. Weible is alarmed by President Trump’s budget proposal to slash the average USDA subsidy level of crop insurance premiums from 62 percent to 48 percent, which would amount to an overall 22 percent reduction in premium subsidies. The Turtle Lake, N.D., farmer says he expects the upcoming farm bill will cut crop subsidies in some ways, but notes that western North Dakota has suffered under an exceptionally severe drought since early 2017 and “crop insurance is our last resort.” In the end, the convention approved a policy statement calling for “maintaining or increasing the average premium subsidy for crop insurance.”
NFU wants crop insurance protected in farm bill
