Report:
# of Pages:
CRS-2 a 5-year period into the program primarily through more generous premium subsidies to help make the program more affordable to farmers and enhance farmer participation levels, in an effort to preclude the need fo r ad-hoc emergency disaster payments. For FY2001, the first full fiscal year following the 2000 legislative enhancements, total government costs of the program were approximately $3.2 billion. For crop year 2002, USDA estimates that total indemnity payments to farmers alone will approach $4 billion. Under the current crop insurance program, a producer who grows an insurable crop selects a level of crop yield and price coverage and pays a premium that increases as the levels of yield and price coverage rises.