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December 11, 2015 CapitalPress.com 15 &URSLQVXUDQFHDNH\FRPSRQHQWRIPDQ\IDUPHUV¶¿QDQFHV By BRENNA WIEGAND For the Capital Press With the 2014 Farm Bill ending direct payments, crop insurance has become the main tool remaining to help farmers manage risk and live to fight another day when Mother Nature and other forces deal them a tough hand. Steve Terjeson is execu- tive vice president and chief lending officer of Citizens Bank, headquartered in Cor- vallis. He grew up in Eastern Oregon, where crop insur- ance is a matter of course. “With the rainfall and soils in the Willamette Val- ley you can usually produce a pretty good crop,” Terjeson said. “This year was a good example of a fairly down year; there was some light grass seed yield that we saw. In other years it might be wheat that’s down.” Last year U.S. farmers spent roughly $3.8 billion on crop insurance premi- ums. Those policies pro- tected 128 different types of crops planted on 295 mil- lion acres valued at more than $129 billion. “The evolution to crop insurance has effectively moved risk management away from the public sec- tor, funded exclusively by taxpayer dollars, toward the private sector, where farm- ers and crop insurance com- panies help shoulder part of the cost of natural disas- ters,” Northwest Farmers Union President Wright said Brenna Wiegand/For the Capital Press &LWL]HQV%DQN([HFXWLYH9LFH3UHVLGHQWDQG&KLHI/HQGLQJ2I¿FHU6WHYH7HUMHVRQSD\VDYLVLWWR6LOYHUWRQ2UH%UDQFK0DQDJHU0LOOD(XEDQN in a recent opinion piece published in the Capital Press. “This takes taxpayers off the hook for the entire bill when disaster strikes and is good for farmers who must always keep their risk management plan in mind, and good for rural America because farmers are the en- gines that generate econom- ic activity.” Terjeson revisits the sub- ject of crop insurance in an- nual reviews with clients. “Is it worth buying that insurance?” he asks. “Are you well-diversified or are you depending on one crop? Each farmer’s a little bit dif- ferent.” The degree to which a farm is affected by crop failures, markets and the economy may be foretold in their balance sheet, said Brian Field, founder and president of Harvest Capital in Canby, Oregon. BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A transportation bill Congress passed on Dec. 3 restores $3 billion in cuts to crop insurance made in the budget agreement com- pleted in October, and also helps some agricultural fuel haulers. The Senate and House overwhelmingly approved the five-year, $305 billion bill, sending it to the White House for President Barack Obama’s signature. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., said in a statement that crop insurance “is a lifeline for jobs and families across rural America,” and Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said it gives farmers “the certainty of knowing there is a safety net in place.” Farm state lawmakers and agricultural groups were angered by the budget deal, saying the cut to crop insurance would hurt farm- ers and possibly increase the need for emergency di- saster aid. They also said it would undermine improve- ments in the 2014 farm bill to crop insurance, which costs more than $9 billion annually. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said late last month that “producers need cer- tainty from Washington, D.C. This includes the im- portant crop insurance safe- ty net.” The Dakotas lead the nation in the production of wheat, sunflowers, oats, canola, honey, flaxseed, dry beans and bison. The transportation bill also eases licensing require- ments for people hauling smaller amounts of diesel fuel for agriculture-related uses, according to Sen. John Thune, R-S.D. AF15-7/#4N AF15-7/#5 Congress votes to restore $3 billion in crop insurance cuts