Fourth District Congressman Randy Feenstra says he’s focusing part of the new Farm Bill on the cost of crop insurance. Feenstra, a Republican from Hull, says the expense of crop insurance is a major barrier to young farmers who are just getting started in production agriculture.
Feenstra says he and the other members of the House Agriculture Committee are considering discounts on crop insurance for those farmers who are just starting off.
Crop insurance is one of the biggest input costs farmers pay each year and he says some may choose 85-percent coverage, or even as low as 70-percent.
Feenstra says the largest part of the Farm Bill is food programs, including SNAP. He says farm state members of the committee want to make the program more efficient as SNAP payments have exploded in recent years.
