USDA Deputy Censky Visits #CIRB2018

Cindy Zimmerman

U.S Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Steve Censky visited the 2018 Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau annual meeting this week in Scottsdale, Arizona. “Our crop insurance program here in the United States is the envy of countries around the world,” said Censky. At the same time, he admitted that the 2018 farm bill will be facing budget challenges. “The dollars are …

Audio, CIRB, Crop Insurance, USDA

Two Years of @CIRBdc Emerging Leaders

Cindy Zimmerman

This is the second year of the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau (CIRB) Emerging Leaders Program and it was so popular last year that this year’s class is almost double in size. Jim Konstanty, PartnerRe, was a member of the first ELP class and we followed up with him this year to see how the program helped him. “It’s really …

Audio, CIRB

Meet @CIRBdc Crop Insurance Coalition Members

Cindy Zimmerman

The Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau coalition members have been instrumental in being a voice for the industry on Capitol Hill. Representatives from four of those coalition partners joined the CIRB annual meeting last week to talk about what they do to advocate for crop insurance. The panel included Ed Elfmann with the American Bankers Association; Kay Rentzel of the …

Audio, CIRB, Insurance

Policy Forecast at #CIRB2017

Cindy Zimmerman

Last year at the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau (CIRB) annual meeting, there were still lots of candidates for president and Informa Economics Senior VP Jim Wiesemeyer talked about what they might mean to the future of agriculture. This year, he only had to focus on the one who actually made it to the White House. “It’s a great time …

Audio, CIRB, Farm Policy, Insurance

Benefits of Membership in @CIRBdc

Cindy Zimmerman

For over 50 years, the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau (CIRB) has provided advocacy and support services for the industry and membership has never been more important. American Farm Bureau Insurance Services Vice President and General Manager Tim Green says CIRB is focused on maintaining the risk management tools that farmers and ranchers need. “We all have the same end …

AFBF, Audio, CIRB, Insurance

Outgoing @CIRBdc Chair Had a Great Year

Cindy Zimmerman

Shari Bane of COUNTRY Financial had a challenging but fabulous year as chair of the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau. “CIRB had a lot of challenges and it was instrumental that we had a trade association with a coalition of partners across the ag industry dedicated to crop insurance and rural America to get through a tough year,” said Bane. …

Audio, CIRB, Insurance

New @CIRBdc Chair Honors Former RMA Admin

Cindy Zimmerman

New Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau chairman Ron Rutledge of Farmers Mutual Hail had the pleasure of presenting the inaugural Distinguished Service Award to now former USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA) administrator Brandon Willis. “Brandon has been a friend of the industry who has been very supportive and worked very hard with us and we really wanted to give him …

Audio, CIRB, Insurance

Meet Two @CIRBdc Emerging Leaders

Cindy Zimmerman

Last year at the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau annual meeting, we heard about the first class of the organization’s Emerging Leaders Program. The program was so popular that the second class has almost twice the members and I had a chance to talk with two of those emerging leaders at the meeting this week. Chock Hefner started his crop …

Audio, CIRB, Insurance

Farm Economy Update at #CIRB2017

Cindy Zimmerman

The team of Gary Schnitkey and Jonathan Coppess from the University of Illinois gave an update on the farm economy during a presentation at the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau annual meeting this week. “We’re seeing deteriorating financial conditions on many farms and we’re likely to continue to see that as long as we have corn prices below four dollars …

Audio, CIRB, Corn, Farm Bill, Insurance

#CIRB2017 Gets Legislative Update

Cindy Zimmerman

Lower farm income may not seem like a good thing for farmers right now, but it might make getting a good farm bill a little easier than it was last time, according to American Farm Bureau’s Mary Kay Thatcher who gave members of the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau a legislative update at their annual meeting this week. “Certainly farmers …

AFBF, Audio, CIRB, Insurance