The 2018 Farm Bill extension is due to expire on September 30, with no new legislation on the horizon. As the clock runs out, crop insurance is a huge piece of the puzzle. Mike LaFever, a board member of the Southwest Council of Agribusiness, talks about the urgency and significance of crop insurance for farmers.

“it’s an entire nation’s national issue, our crop insurance. We have to get that supported. Iowa has the Derechos, the big winds, we get hail, everybody else gets hail, who knows, I mean, early freeze, whatever. We’ve got to have that crop insurance. The banks want to see that as security also because that’s the only way we know that you’ll only lose a little bit of money instead of a lot of money, and we’d like to see that insurance come up where you can at least break even to live to fight another day, another year.”

Not only is it important to pass a farm bill, but LaFever says farmers need a good farm bill.

“As of right now, we don’t have an extension, we don’t have anything, and time is running out. We’d rather have an extension than a bad farm bill. That’s just the bottom line. If you’re going to do a farm bill, let’s do it right. Right now, there’s a lot of dissension between the House and the Senate.”