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Farm Policy Editor Jacqui Fatka spoke with RMA Administrator Martin Barbre on the updates to the farm bill and his producer insight he brings to RMA.

Jacqui Fatka, Policy editor

April 15, 2019

1 Min Read

The No. 1 ask from farm country from the latest farm bill update was to “do no harm to crop insurance.” I recently sat down with Martin Barbre, administrator of the Risk Management Agency, to discuss the tweaks to the crop insurance program and enhancements to make it better.

In the short interview, he details changes to the multi-county enterprise units, changes to the APH (actual production history) and codifying that cover crops are a good farming practice. He also discusses his goals including further expansion in specialty crops as well as expanding coverage of corn in certain areas of the country. In addition, hear about special provisions for young and beginning farmers.

Barbre brings a wealth of experience from the world of agriculture. He is the owner and operator of Chestin Farms, with 6,000 acres of corn, soybeans, wheat, and grain sorghum. He is the former president of the National Corn Growers Association, member of the Illinois Corn Growers Association, and was appointed by Secretary Perdue to be a member of USDA's Illinois Farm Service Agency State Committee until his appointment as RMA Administrator.

As a producer himself, Barbre brings a unique perspective to USDA and representing farmers at USDA in the crop insurance arena. “We have a great staff, but they’re not farmers. I’m able to interject that into the conversation.”

Click on the link below for the full audio. 

 

About the Author(s)

Jacqui Fatka

Policy editor, Farm Futures

Jacqui Fatka grew up on a diversified livestock and grain farm in southwest Iowa and graduated from Iowa State University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communications, with a minor in agriculture education, in 2003. She’s been writing for agricultural audiences ever since. In college, she interned with Wallaces Farmer and cultivated her love of ag policy during an internship with the Iowa Pork Producers Association, working in Sen. Chuck Grassley’s Capitol Hill press office. In 2003, she started full time for Farm Progress companies’ state and regional publications as the e-content editor, and became Farm Futures’ policy editor in 2004. A few years later, she began covering grain and biofuels markets for the weekly newspaper Feedstuffs. As the current policy editor for Farm Progress, she covers the ongoing developments in ag policy, trade, regulations and court rulings. Fatka also serves as the interim executive secretary-treasurer for the North American Agricultural Journalists. She lives on a small acreage in central Ohio with her husband and three children.

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