Critic of crop insurance calls it bloated, but he doesn't expect Congress to reverse course

One key to the new Farm Bill is expansion of crop insurance. We wrote about a recent study by Iowa State University agricultural economist Bruce Babcock that said taxpayers overpaid nearly $7 million for crop insurance in 2012, and he expects those numbers to keep going up.

In a business where insurers, farm lenders, industry grain giants and equipment companies all stand to profit from crop insurance, the outspoken Babcock is not exactly a popular person, reports Marcia Zarley Taylor for DTN/The Progressive Farmer. But if Babcock (Taylor photo) is correct, will Congress do about it? The answer, he says, is to continue to charge taxpayers even more money. Over the next 10 years he expects the crop insurance program will cost $8.8 billion per year.

"Rather than curbing the costs of crop insurance, the pro-agriculture members added more taxpayer support with new programs that protect shallow revenue losses," reports Taylor. Babcock said, instead of restraint, the ag committees "want to insure the deductibles. They want to keep current subsides and pile on more." (Read more)