The Hagstrom Report 

Tara Smith moderated a panel with James Glueck and Joe Schultz, the executive director of the Platform for Agriculture and Climate Transformation (PACT), at this year’s Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau’s Annual Meeting. With so many new members on both the House and Senate Agriculture committees, “the biggest issue is education of members,” said Glueck. The new members will have a lot of questions about the crop insurance programs and its efficiency in meeting producers’ needs. Schultz encouraged the group to portray crop insurance as the “first line of defense” in protecting the U.S. against climate change. It will continually be important to bring new producers into the crop insurance program. “The evolution started with specialty crops as a new entrant and moved on to the livestock industry, which wanted disaster assistance,” Schultz said. The panel also discussed congressional timelines for the farm bill, including what to expect from the amendments process.

Discussing prospects for the 2023 farm bill are Joe Schultz, left, executive director of the Platform for Agriculture and Climate Transformation and former staff director under Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and James Glueck, a vice president at the Torrey Advisory Group and former staff director of the Senate Agriculture Committee under Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan. At right is moderator Tara Smith, an executive vice president of the Torrey Advisory Group and a former Senate Agriculture Committee aide. (Jerry Hagstrom/The Hagstrom Report)

READ: Ex Ag staffers: Member education big issue, crop insurance is climate program