New farm bill should make crop insurance more accessible

Opinion editor's note: Star Tribune Opinion publishes a mix of national and local commentaries online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

•••

During the peak of the growing season at our small berry farm, we do a whole lot of harvesting. Because it was so hot this summer, we were picking in the early mornings and using the afternoons to make jam, syrup and fruit leather. But then, as we were preparing fresh fruit for Mill City Farmers Market, a massive hailstorm ripped through our field and destroyed our open field, about 2,000 strawberry plants.

The margins are always small in farming, especially when you are just starting out or running a small operation. Our farm will survive, though this was a considerable hit for the business. We were lucky. A setback like this can be all it takes to put a farmer out of business.

Farming has always been difficult, but climate-induced extreme weather events have increased the level of risk. To help overcome bad years and bad luck, the federal farm bill offers farmers subsidized crop insurance. Yet the program as it currently functions favors large operations producing a few select crops, making it impractical or impossible for many small farmers to participate. A recent survey of farmers under 40 found that only 5% had crop insurance. That's a crisis for agriculture. If we care about food security and the future of farming in this country, we have to do more to assist the next generation of farmers. As Congress sets about the business of writing a new farm bill this year, it should look at ways to expand the crop insurance program to better serve the needs of America's young growers.

Our farm is among the uninsured. For us the reason is simple: Under the federal program, coverage is based on your historical average production or revenue. We've been in business since 2018, operating on a half-acre, and I'm buying a 15-acre farm next month. Even if I only grow on a third of it, that's an enormous production increase that wouldn't be covered. Unless the system changes, I'll be exposed to the whims of nature for three years before that new land is insured at-value.

Most young farmers are in a similar situation. When you start out, you can't afford much. You start small. You want to expand quickly. You look into enrolling in the Whole Farm Revenue Protection (aka crop insurance) program, only to find you aren't eligible, or the program can't insure enough of your revenue, or can't find an insurance agent willing to sell to you. You get tangled up in red tape when all you want to do is grow food.

No wonder so few of us are insured.

In 2021, the U.S. Department of Agriculture decreased reporting and paperwork requirements for small farms (under $350,000 in revenue), reducing the burden for some farmers. This is a welcome change, but it does not go far enough to truly make the program accessible. The 2023 farm bill must enact further changes that eliminate barriers and make it easier for small, beginning, diverse, specialty crop and organic farmers to get crop insurance.

One way would be to further cut down on paperwork: Expand the Micro Farm pilot for farms up to $1 million in revenue and stop insurance agents from requiring unnecessary records from farmers. Another would be to raise limits on revenue expansion: Allow beginning, transitioning and scaling farmers to be insured at a level that keeps pace with rapid operational growth. We should also offer a premium discount to farms that use crop rotations and compensate agents for the extra time required to tailor policies for highly varied and diverse farms. These changes will help keep small family farmers in business during the years ahead.

Recently senators, including our own Tina Smith, introduced the Whole Farm Revenue Protection Improvement Act to address shortcomings in the program. I hope we can also count on support from Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Reps. Angie Craig and Brad Finstad. All four of these Minnesota lawmakers serve on the Senate or House agriculture committees and will play key roles in negotiating the next farm bill. Hopefully, farmers in Minnesota and across the country can rely on them to encourage investment in the future of farming by making crop insurance available to all America's producers.

Andy Petran is the owner of Twin Cities Berry Company.