Kent Conrad: “In previous disaster bills, those that did not have crop insurance got 45 percent of the prevailing price. Under this…”

“In previous disaster bills, those that did not have crop insurance got 45 percent of the prevailing price. Under this bill, we have dropped that dramatically to 20 percent. Frankly, the overriding reason is there are certain crops for which crop insurance doesn't work at all, largely specialty crops in this country for which the crop insurance program badly needs reform. There are real problems with crop insurance. Crop insurance for specialty crops was never written in a way that makes any economic sense, or in many cases covers the crops at all. That is why we still have a provision that gives some assistance to those who do not have crop insurance.”