Safety Nets or Trampolines? Federal Crop Insurance, Disaster Assistance, and the Farm Bill

Barry K. Goodwin, Roderick M. Rejesus
2008 Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics  
We review the implications of the 2007 Farm Bill for the risk management dimensions of U.S. agriculture and policy. Legislative proposals suggest significant changes in risk management policy, including the introduction of state or national revenue insurance. We also pursue an empirical analysis of the interrelationships of crop insurance, disaster relief, and farm profitability. We find an inverse relationship between disaster assistance and insurance purchases. Our analysis also suggests that
more » ... farmers that buy insurance and that receive disaster payments tend to have higher returns to farming.
doi:10.1017/s1074070800023713 fatcat:3qwe5yj3wreixajdv72kwsrtee