Earlier this week, PIA, along with a coalition of fellow crop insurance stakeholders, sent Congressional leaders a letter urging them to protect crop insurance from funding cuts in Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) budget and appropriations process.

Despite the critical role crop insurance plays in protecting farmers from natural and economic disasters, and its value in supporting rural economies, presidents of both parties typically try to cut crop insurance funding using the budget and appropriations process. For example, in 2015, Congress cut $3 billion from the program, but PIA and its allies successfully pushed for a statutory reversal to the cuts. PIA and its allies have, time and again, protected the funding of the crop insurance program. The FY21 budget request included an eight percent cut to the USDA, and crop insurance specifically would have been cut by $25 billion over the next decade.

For years, PIA has been collaborating with organizations that represent every part of the crop supply chain to protect the funding of the federal crop insurance program.  In 2023 and 2024, our advocacy paid off, when, in a victory for PIA and our allies, the FY24 and FY25 budget request released by the White House included no cuts to the crop insurance program. This was especially welcome because billions of dollars in cuts to crop insurance have been included in presidential budget requests for much of the last decade. 

PIA is continuing to advocate for the protection of the crop insurance program this year, and we will remain vigilant against any attempts to cut the program during the forthcoming Farm Bill reauthorization process.