A Letter to the Editor by CIPA Board Member, Jason Williamson of Payne, Ohio, was recently published in the New York Times in response to an editorial the newspaper ran titled, "Drought and the Farm Bills." Among other things, the article claimed crop insurance “guaranteed profits” for farmers. You can read Jason’s response below:

 

To the Editor:

 

Your July 25 editorial “Drought and the Farm Bills” implies that farmers are somehow purchasing crop insurance policies as a way to get rich. Nothing could be further from the truth.

 

Crop insurance has become the chief risk management tool for farmers for one simple reason: It works. Farmers purchase policies and can receive claims only for documented losses.

 

As you noted, most of the United States is locked in a severe drought this year. Crop losses may be deep, and no crop insurance indemnity will be enough to make any of these farmers whole again. The indemnity will allow those who purchased policies to get back on their feet and farm yet another day.

 

Do you think that drivers who purchase car insurance are secretly hoping for a car wreck to get a check from the insurance company? It’s an absurd idea. You purchase insurance for protection, not to make a buck.

 

As a crop insurance agent, I can tell you that there is nothing farmers want more than a bountiful harvest. But if Mother Nature does not cooperate, and it looks as if she won’t this year, farmers will need crop insurance as a backup plan.

 

JASON WILLIAMSON

Payne, Ohio, July 27, 2012