Harvert Price Option Event on the Hill
Tomorrow, February 12, 2015, Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Representative John Duncan Jr. (R-TN) will introduce legislation pertaining to the Harvest Price Option (HPO) available for most revenue crop insurance programs. The HPO allows for a claim when prices are actually higher than the initial discovery price. For example, during the 2012 drought, having this option added about $6 billion to the cost borne by the taxpayers and President Obama’s budget proposes eliminating this option and this legislation would also end it.
One of the speakers at the event is Vince Smith a visiting AEI scholar and professor of economics at Montana State University and he has released a statement in anticipation of the legislation and you can read the statement here.
The primary argument against HPO is that the discovery price has provide the necessary crop insurance protection available at the time of planting. If the price rallies into harvest time, critics indicate there should be no additional payment since the farmer will take advantage of that price when they sell the crop. This is the argument for eliminating this crop insurance option.
If you feel strongly otherwise, then you should contact your Senator or Representative and let him/her know your feelings. The panel for tomorrow is:
- Drew White, Heritage Action
- Dr. Vincent Smith, American Enterprise Institute
- Andrew Moylan, R. Street Institute
- Mike Lavender, Environmental Working Group
As you can tell from the listing, there are no farmers or crop insurance representatives invited to this.
Paul Neiffer is a certified public accountant and business advisor specializing in income taxation, accounting services, and succession planning for farmers and agribusiness processors. Paul is a principal with CliftonLarsonAllen in Walla Walla, Washington, as well as a regular speaker at national conferences and contributor at agweb.com. Raised on a farm in central Washington, he has been immersed in the ag industry his entire life, including the last 30 years professionally. Paul and his wife purchase an 180 acre ranch in 2016 and enjoy keeping it full of animals.
Comments are closed.