High participation rates are the key to staving off future ad hoc disaster programs. You do not and we do not want a return to ad hoc disaster programs. They are expensive for taxpayers and an inferior risk management tool for farmers. Having worked in this industry for over 20 years, I personally think the answer to these questions is not readily apparent from only three years of experience since the 1994 reform. Three years is not an insurance cycle in agriculture.
Conventional wisdom is that a bad year occurs one out of five years or two out of ten years.
We have just experienced three good years, with the last two years setting records for the program in terms of the overall loss ratio. The returns of these years will be used to cover losses when disaster strikes, which we know is only a matter of time. The current system has yet to be tested by a major, multi-state catastrophe like the 1988 drought or the 1993 flood and drought. What we need to do is fully fund the program before we pursue broad-based reforms that are untested. Let us fund the Safety Net.