Kansas farmers do not get to pause a harvest because the rain missed its turn. Across 7.15 million harvested winter-wheat acres, a producer can face drought, disease, a damaging freeze, or a market shock after doing everything right. Sen. Roger Marshall is attacking Washington’s old habit of waiting for the damage and arguing over emergency aid after the balance sheet is already bleeding.
Marshall joined Sens. John Hoeven and John Boozman to reintroduce the Federal Agriculture Risk Management Enhancement and Resilience Act, known as the FARMER Act. The bill would increase premium support for higher levels of crop-insurance coverage, improve the Supplemental Coverage Option, direct the Risk Management Agency to study SCO in large counties, and let producers choose enhanced coverage without giving up Agriculture Risk Coverage or Price Loss Coverage.
Marshall has heard the priority straight from Kansas producers: “crop insurance is the top priority in the Farm Bill”. That is not a request for special treatment. It is a demand for a tool that works before a field is ruined, when a producer still has a choice about how much risk to carry.
The USDA Risk Management Agency’s Kansas profile identifies federal crop insurance as a key resource and directs producers to private agents. The agency’s SCO explanation describes protection for part of an underlying policy’s deductible and its connection to other farm-program elections.
Kansas production sends the policy through the rural economy. The USDA’s 2024 overview also records 5.8 million harvested grain-corn acres and 2.8 million harvested grain-sorghum acres. When insurance changes, the impact moves through grain terminals, feedlots, processors, truckers, lenders, and the towns that depend on a successful crop.
Farmers do not need Washington to discover the risk after the harvest is gone. They need a policy choice before planting, when a producer can decide how much coverage the operation can afford and what protection belongs behind the crop. Marshall is pushing Congress to respect that timing.
Marshall’s coalition includes the American Farm Bureau Federation, National Association of Wheat Growers, National Corn Growers Association, Farm Credit Council, and other producer and insurance organizations. They know what Washington forgets: disaster aid is slow, uncertainty is expensive, and a farm cannot pay its bills with sympathy after the crop is gone.
The FARMER Act has been reintroduced and awaits congressional action. Its changes would still depend on Congress, implementation, and producer choices, but its direction is unmistakable: make stronger coverage more affordable and stop forcing farm families to wait for an emergency package assembled after the loss.
Marshall is putting the fight where it belongs, in the policy decisions made before planting and before the forecast turns, when a Kansas family can still protect an operation. The next storm is coming. Kansas needs a safety net before it does.