The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued a report, “Options to Reduce Budgetary Costs of the Federal Crop Insurance Program,” on 22 December. This is an exercise in presenting Congress with budget options, which the CBO does occasionally. It is essentially a laundry list of ways that Congress can reduce crop insurance spending via the farm bill. The options put forth would reduce spending by $47.5 billion over the next 10 years.
The report was not requested by any specific member of Congress, which is how many such efforts originate. However, these options follow a number of crop insurance reform plans introduced in Congress. The three biggest cost savings are: 1) eliminating the harvest price option; 2) reducing premium...
What You Need to Know Today: USDA reports are delayed until Tuesday due to the federal holiday on Monday. Over the weekend, President Trump announced a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. Russia warmly welcomed and confirmed this ceasefire by conducting more strikes against Ukraine. Specific...
On Saturday, 10 October, at a campaign rally in Clarksville, Tennessee, President Trump said that the U.S. and Mexico would come to terms on a new trade deal, and he said Canada does not need to be part of the deal. Trump called the coming agreement with Mexico “great” but gave no d...
Key Takeaways: The United States has steadily lost global wheat export market share since the 1970s, falling from the world's leading exporter to a projected fifth place in 2026/27. The rapid expansion of Black Sea wheat exports, driven by improved productivity and export infrastructure, has r...
