Agricultural leaders from more than 30 nations have been meeting in Kansas City this week to discuss the challenge of feeding a growing world population and how crop insurance can help farmers accomplish this goal.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack welcomed the International Association of Agricultural Production Insurers (AIAG) and provided his perspective on the importance of crop insurance for both farmers and the non-farm population they feed. “In the wake of a devastating disaster, crop insurance offers a lifeline,” he said. “It is one of the most important, reliable, and cost-effective parts of the safety net here in the United States.”

The secretary talked about recent policy changes that have been made to the U.S. crop insurance system in recent years to improve its availability and affordability. “Crop insurance has expanded because it works for farmers and it works for our taxpayers,” said Vilsack.

The success of the U.S. system is one reason AIAG chose to meet in the United States this year, the first time in 33 years that the group has met outside of Europe. “We are here because the U.S. crop and revenue insurance program is the most developed and the most efficient system for farmers in the world,” AIAG President Kurt Weinberger said during his opening remarks.

Weinberger also noted that participants in this week’s summit are discussing how farmers can use new technologies, new insurance products, new government policies, and new farming practices to deal with climate change and market volatility.

Also at the event, the National Crop Insurance Services (NCIS) released an updated version of “Crop Insurance: Just the Facts” which uses government data, academic research, and information from other trusted sources to answer common questions about the U.S. crop insurance system.

NCIS President Tom Zacharias said the web-based tool should be valuable to his international colleagues and explained that it was important to ensure the site contained the most up-to-date information in time for the conference. “Regardless of your level of knowledge of crop insurance, ‘Just the Facts’ will help you better understand the inner workings of the primary risk management tool for America’s farmers and ranchers,” he said.

The updates not only drill down on the new 2014 Farm Bill, but also cover other issues, including the economics of the crop insurance industry, how crop insurance benefits consumers and producers alike, and rebuttals to farm policy critics.