Farm Journal policy analyst Jim Wiesemeyer provided his annual update for members of the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau (CIRB) during the 59th annual meeting last week in Bonita Springs, Florida.

The farm bill is the main issue on the table right now, but a bigger issue is the coming debate on the growing national debt. “There’s bipartisan support for crop insurance,” said Wiesemeyer, however, “there is the concern that farm programs eventually will probably have to be reduced along with a lot of other programs.”

As far as the farm bill is concerned, Wiesemeyer hesitates to call it the 2023 farm bill because one of the questions right now is whether there will be a one or two year extension. “We’ve had 19 farm bills in this country, this will be my 11th covering them so I think I have learned a few things,” he said. And one of those things is that they tend to wait until the very end to address the key issue, which he says is food and nutrition. “Once you get the SNAP funding completed, the other things kind of fall into place.”

Hear more of Wiesemeyer’s update in this interview.
2023 CIRB annual interview - Jim Wiesemeyer, Farm Journal (6:34)