In response to the budget deal announced last night, the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau (CIRB), National Crop Insurance Service (NCIS), and American Association of Crop Insurers (AACI) released the following statement:

"Make no mistake - the budget deal's proposed cuts to crop insurance would be devastating. Today, crop Insurance is a successful public-private partnership that has already sustained $12B in cuts since 2008. This proposal would cripple that partnership and with it, the rural economy.
 
Farmers and ranchers, lenders, input suppliers and processors, insurance and reinsurance organizations agree that crop insurance is the centerpiece of agricultural risk management. The program is federally regulated and delivered by the private sector.  The budget proposal would essentially destroy the delivery system and the timely service that farmers have come to rely on to get back on their feet after times of disaster.
 
To add insult to injury, these cuts were airdropped without being proposed - let alone considered - by Congress. It doesn't make sense to attack crop insurance after this critical protection helped farmers and ranchers survive one of the worst droughts in our nation's history - without calls for ad hoc crop disaster aid. It is particularly irresponsible to push these kinds of cuts at a time when crop prices are falling, farm incomes are on the decline, and extreme weather is wreaking havoc on rural America.
 
We urge Congress to oppose this proposal. Don't re-open a farm bill that was heavily debated for five years - and don't undermine the foundation of farmers' and ranchers' risk management."