Crop Insurance Today November 2013 - (Page 1)

TODAY PRESIDENT'SMESSAGE "Gettin' By on Gettin' Bys...." Laurie Langstraat, Editor TODAY® IS PROVIDED AS A SERVICE OF NATIONAL CROP INSURANCE SERVICES® TO EDUCATE READERS ABOUT THE RISK MANAGEMENT TOOLS PRODUCERS USE TO PROTECT THEMSELVES FROM THE RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH PRODUCTION AGRICULTURE. TODAY is published quarterly-February, May, August, and November by National Crop Insurance Services 8900 Indian Creek Parkway, Suite 600 Overland Park, Kansas 66210 www.ag-risk.org If you move, or if your address is incorrect, please send old address label clipped from recent issue along with your new or corrected address to Donna Bryan, at the above address. NCIS® EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Tim Weber, Chairman Mike Day, Vice Chairman Jim Korin, Second Vice Chairman NCIS® MANAGEMENT Thomas P. Zacharias, President Charles Lee, General Counsel James M. Crist, CFO/COO Frank Schnapp, Senior Vice President Mike Sieben, Senior Vice President Creative Layout and Design by Graphic Arts of Topeka, Inc., Kansas Printed on recycled paper. Tom Zacharias, NCIS President As we come down to the final 2013 issue of TODAY® magazine and the autumn leaves are falling, the tendency is to become a little bit reflective and perhaps introspective, and for me, the lyrics of the iconic minstrel Jerry Jeff Walker come to mind. So to round out the year, "...I'm tryin' to slide one by you once more...." What is it that we do in crop insurance? Without taking ourselves too seriously, but in one sense realistically and practically, let us borrow a few lines from the ol' Buckaroo Jerry Jeff "...gettin' by on gettin' bys my stock and trade...." Our industry does a lot of things that do not seem all that glamorous, but are vital to the success of this business, the success of our customers, and the success of the country. The Government Shutdown "Pickin' up the pieces wherever they fall...." The industry never missed a beat during the recent government shutdown, starting on Tuesday, October 1 through Wednesday, October 16. Claims were paid, policyholders were taken care of and the companies continued to operate "business as usual" during this period when the USDA and RMA websites were void of content. With the exception of a lone Informational Memorandum, all was quiet. During the shutdown, NCIS held several all-AIP conference calls, distributed information to its members regarding the status of the shutdown, and provided backup support to the AIPs for document and data retrieval that was unavailable due to the shutdown of the USDA/RMA websites. Despite the government shutdown, farmers affected by disastrous weather were still able to receive indemnity payments in a timely manner-keeping farmers in the field and rural economies humming. The crop insurance program functioned exactly as intended and was a testament to how well the public-private partnership of crop insurance works. With the public component temporarily on the sidelines the private component stepped up and companies, agents and adjusters worked throughout the shutdown, processing and paying claims in the hundreds of millions of dollars so farmers saw no interruption in their cash flow. After the shutdown ended, NCIS staff got busy helping AIPs deal with the start-up, which began on Thursday, October 17. NCIS monitored the progress of the start-up and worked as a liaison between RMA and the AIPs to help facilitate a return to normal insurance operations for the crop insurance industry and the farm community. A special thanks is in order to the Kansas City RMA staff for its help in the start-up process. Farm Bill Status "Livin' it day to day...and we've been down this road once or twice before...." As of this publication the farm bill outcome is still unknown, which means that things have Printed with Environmentally friendly vegetable oil based inks. Continued on page 32 CROPINSURANCE TODAY® 1 http://www.ag-risk.org http://www.ag-risk.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crop Insurance Today November 2013

Gettin' By on Gettin' Bys...
Helping Farmers and Ranchers: Developing Risk Management Plans
NCIS Adjuster Schools Big Success
1890 Scholarship Recipients
Ten Considerations Regarding the Role of Crop Insurance in the Agricultural Safety Net
Crop Insurance In Action
Kent A. Petersen Retires
In Memory Bill Hanson

Crop Insurance Today November 2013