William Barnes
Deputy Director of RMA’s Regional Office in Raleigh, N.C., says federal crop insurance programs are designed to be adaptive and responsive to the needs of farmers throughout the country. “What we do has an effect in the field almost immediately,” said Barnes. “Outside of weather, which you can't control, there's also market variability which you can't control. Crop insurance is an excellent tool to help with price protection.”
Locklear Brothers Farm uses crop insurance for revenue protection. “We've also used the hurricane policy, and that's been a tremendous help for us here. Without that coverage, I would say there will be some farms now that will be out of business,” said Locklear.
Crop insurance provides more than disaster protection; it also helps the Locklear Brothers Farm get funding from banks. “Banks want to be able to see how much crop insurance we're carrying,” said Locklear.