Susan Collins: “I have heard from many Maine potato farmers that one barrier to their using the crop insurance program is the inability…”

“I have heard from many Maine potato farmers that one barrier to their using the crop insurance program is the inability to insure the crops of a farm that may consist of several non-contiguous units under one policy. Therefore, I was pleased to see that The Risk Management for the Twenty-first Century Act authorizes pilot programs to allow farmers to receive premium discounts for using whole farm units or single crop units of insurance and to cross State and county boundaries to form insurable units. This provision has the potential to significantly help farmers in Maine and I appreciate your efforts to ensure its inclusion in the crop insurance bill. I hope, too, that you will make every effort to retain this provision in the bill that emerges from conference.”