Linda Vickers refused to comment for this report. Partly as a result of this cozy relationship between individuals in the private and public sectors, the American taxpayer has been left with a program that is sub-par. The Office of the Inspector General, an oversight agency within USDA, issued report after report blasting the agency for inefficiencies and financial irregularities in how crop insurance was delivered. The USDA s Risk Management Agency has also been accused of not properly supervising how crop insurance companies spend their money. Those costs increase when the taxpayer is left to pick up much of the tab.
Small farmers suffer, too Like taxpayers, small farmers also get the short stick.
Lower-income growers are finding it increasingly hard to buy inexpensive insurance policies. These cheaper policies yield only marginal profits for the industry, which sells them only grudgingly. In many states, insurers are allowed to put only 25 to 30 percent of their claims in the assigned risk pool leaving out many small farmers. Between 1997 and 1998, the number of low-income farmers who bought this basic form of insurance dropped by 78 percent. Because their profit motive is low when they deal with small low-income growers, the industry pays little attention to these people, who as a result are dropping out of the crop insurance program altogether.