Schumer pushes for insurance expansion to encourage Chenango farmers to grow soybeans
WASHINGTON, DC – Senator Charles Schumer is pushing the USDA to expand soybean crop insurance to 14 upstate counties, including Chenango.
“Expanding access to soybean insurance to more of our upstate farmers could be a real game changer,” the New York Democrat said in a statement issued by his office. “Soybeans are a profitable crop that hold real economic potential, but the industry can’t take off if they aren’t given access to some basic protections.”
Earlier this month, the New York Democrat placed a call to Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack, urging an expansion of soybean crop insurance coverage offered through the USDA’s Risk Management Agency to include the 14 counties, each of which had already applied to be included in the program. Those counties are: Chemung, Chenango, Clinton, Columbia, Dutchess, Essex, Franklin, Herkimer, Madison, Oneida, Otsego, St. Lawrence, Tioga and Washington.
According to Schumer, not having the coverage – which protects farmers from soybean crop losses due to weather conditions, infestations, etc. – puts ag producers in the region at a competitive disadvantage.
The senator indicated that Vilsack had been receptive to the idea of expanding the coverage.
“I’m glad Secretary Vilsack is going to give this expansion proposal a close examination and I’m confident USDA will soon see the clear benefits,” Schumer said.
Local agriculture advocates are supportive of the initiative.
“The value of soybean is quite high, so certainly we want to promote the growth of that here in the county,” said Chenango County Farm Bureau President Bradd Vickers, who added that any assistance Chenango can get to help maintain and/or grow the local agricultural industry is “a plus.”
“It’s a good thing,” agreed Field Crop Specialist Kevin Ganoe from Cornell Cooperative Extension of Herkimer County, which covers a six county region, including Chenango.
Farmers are already growing soybeans in Chenango and surrounding counties. According to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, 26,300 bushels of soybeans were harvested from the 500 acres sown with the crop in 2008, the most recent year for which statistics are available. In neighboring Otsego County, 1,000 acres were planted yielding 43,600 bushels that same year; and in Madison County, 3,700 acres were planted, yielding 160,300 bushels. In 2009, the number of acres planted with soybeans increased in Otsego and Madison to 1,300 and 4,400 respectively.
According to Ganoe, most of the Chenango farmers growing soybeans see its value not as a cash crop, but as a rotational crop. Not only are soybeans a good protein source when used in livestock feed, he said, but growing the crop actually increases the yield of corn planted on the same field in subsequent years.
“Soybeans improve the soil structure,” he explained, making it less compact and adding nitrogen back into the soil. Using it as a rotational crop also helps to break disease and insect cycles, he said.
Terry Ives of Greenview Farms in Guilford is one Chenango County farmer who is using soybeans as a rotational crop, and has been doing so for close to a decade.
“It’s a way to diversify,” said Ives, who plants anywhere from 22 to 35 acres of soybeans each year. Not only is it easy to grow, he explained, but gives his fields a break from growing corn year after year.
Last year, however, Ives had trouble securing crop insurance for his soybean crop. This year, he has decided to forgo such insurance, he said, and assume the risk himself.
While the sixth generation farmer clearly sees the benefit of growing soybeans, he’s not sure that the availability of crop insurance coverage will encourage more farmers to plant them.
Ganoe also has his doubts, but said despite that, if the USDA does extend the coverage it would be a positive development for those who are currently growing them.
“Crop insurance is viewed as a good risk management tool,” explained Ganoe, one which provides price/yield protection for farmers.
It will also identify soybeans as a viable crop in the region going forward, he said, because of the factors the USDA will take into consideration when making the decision whether to expand crop insurance to the counties in question.
According to Schumer’s office, those factors will include whether or not cultivation of the crop is appropriate for the county, if farmers are interested in insurance, the economic significance of the crop in the county, proximity of a market for soybeans, and the availability and quality of crop data.
“Expanding access to soybean insurance to more of our upstate farmers could be a real game changer,” the New York Democrat said in a statement issued by his office. “Soybeans are a profitable crop that hold real economic potential, but the industry can’t take off if they aren’t given access to some basic protections.”
Earlier this month, the New York Democrat placed a call to Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack, urging an expansion of soybean crop insurance coverage offered through the USDA’s Risk Management Agency to include the 14 counties, each of which had already applied to be included in the program. Those counties are: Chemung, Chenango, Clinton, Columbia, Dutchess, Essex, Franklin, Herkimer, Madison, Oneida, Otsego, St. Lawrence, Tioga and Washington.
According to Schumer, not having the coverage – which protects farmers from soybean crop losses due to weather conditions, infestations, etc. – puts ag producers in the region at a competitive disadvantage.
The senator indicated that Vilsack had been receptive to the idea of expanding the coverage.
“I’m glad Secretary Vilsack is going to give this expansion proposal a close examination and I’m confident USDA will soon see the clear benefits,” Schumer said.
Local agriculture advocates are supportive of the initiative.
“The value of soybean is quite high, so certainly we want to promote the growth of that here in the county,” said Chenango County Farm Bureau President Bradd Vickers, who added that any assistance Chenango can get to help maintain and/or grow the local agricultural industry is “a plus.”
“It’s a good thing,” agreed Field Crop Specialist Kevin Ganoe from Cornell Cooperative Extension of Herkimer County, which covers a six county region, including Chenango.
Farmers are already growing soybeans in Chenango and surrounding counties. According to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, 26,300 bushels of soybeans were harvested from the 500 acres sown with the crop in 2008, the most recent year for which statistics are available. In neighboring Otsego County, 1,000 acres were planted yielding 43,600 bushels that same year; and in Madison County, 3,700 acres were planted, yielding 160,300 bushels. In 2009, the number of acres planted with soybeans increased in Otsego and Madison to 1,300 and 4,400 respectively.
According to Ganoe, most of the Chenango farmers growing soybeans see its value not as a cash crop, but as a rotational crop. Not only are soybeans a good protein source when used in livestock feed, he said, but growing the crop actually increases the yield of corn planted on the same field in subsequent years.
“Soybeans improve the soil structure,” he explained, making it less compact and adding nitrogen back into the soil. Using it as a rotational crop also helps to break disease and insect cycles, he said.
Terry Ives of Greenview Farms in Guilford is one Chenango County farmer who is using soybeans as a rotational crop, and has been doing so for close to a decade.
“It’s a way to diversify,” said Ives, who plants anywhere from 22 to 35 acres of soybeans each year. Not only is it easy to grow, he explained, but gives his fields a break from growing corn year after year.
Last year, however, Ives had trouble securing crop insurance for his soybean crop. This year, he has decided to forgo such insurance, he said, and assume the risk himself.
While the sixth generation farmer clearly sees the benefit of growing soybeans, he’s not sure that the availability of crop insurance coverage will encourage more farmers to plant them.
Ganoe also has his doubts, but said despite that, if the USDA does extend the coverage it would be a positive development for those who are currently growing them.
“Crop insurance is viewed as a good risk management tool,” explained Ganoe, one which provides price/yield protection for farmers.
It will also identify soybeans as a viable crop in the region going forward, he said, because of the factors the USDA will take into consideration when making the decision whether to expand crop insurance to the counties in question.
According to Schumer’s office, those factors will include whether or not cultivation of the crop is appropriate for the county, if farmers are interested in insurance, the economic significance of the crop in the county, proximity of a market for soybeans, and the availability and quality of crop data.
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