North Dakota Senator John Hoeven followed up with Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack on a request for support for Northern Plains farmers during Thursday’s Senate Agriculture Committee hearing. “Our proposal to you is through the Commodity Credit Corporation or one of our programs to actually offer to cover some of that discount so farmers actually go and try to get crops in the ground, even though they’re moving past the crop insurance end date.” Hoeven said this plan would save money by not making more prevent plant payments. More crops in the ground would also help with food inflation. Vilsack has not had a chance to review the letter. “Part of the challenge we face in this particular area is making sure we don’t compromise the relationship between the insurers and producers in terms of the overall crop insurance program, creating a circumstance where the risk is difficult for the crop insurance folks to be able to calculate, but I’m happy to take a look at what you all have written.”
