Progressive Farmer published an article stating that the Crop Insurance Coalition, which is composed of 55 groups representing farmers, lenders, agricultural input providers, and conservation groups, sent letters to congressional budget and appropriations leaders and the Biden administration opposing cuts to crop insurance during the upcoming fiscal year 2023 budget process. The Environmental Working Group issued a report last week charging that the crop insurance program doesn’t encourage or require farmers to adapt to climate change or reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In a series of tweets, Senior Research Fellow Joseph Glauber provided a nuanced critique of the EWG study. “It’s true that indemnities have increased dramatically since 1995, but the climate has had less to do with it. Indemnities have increased mostly because participation has increased. Between 1995 to 2021, enrolled in the program DOUBLED while coverage in force increased almost 6x. Why? As the article points outs, a big reason is large subsidies where govt pays for over 60% of premium costs. Indemnities are highly variable but there is no real compelling evidence from this data that says they have become a lot more variable (relative to premiums) since 1995. (That’s not to say that climate isn’t a serious issue for farmers — it is).”