At a recent Farm Foundation forum audience, cotton producer and chairman of the National Cotton Council’s American Cotton Producers Jimmy Dodson discussed recommendations for the future of crop insurance, according to Southeast AgNET.

Among his points, he covered a pilot program designed to promote insurance for enterprise units, allowing producers to protect all of their acres in a given county under a single policy. This program has allowed some to purchase higher coverage levels than otherwise due to a decrease in premiums.

Another topic was the cotton industry's recommendation that producers be permitted to purchase additional coverage from their insurance agents to cover shallow losses as part of a new risk management program.

Shallow losses, going up to 30 percent, are not commonly covered. Producers have few options to protect against shallow losses, Dodson noted, but losses as low as 5 percent can significantly impair an operation. He indicated improved measures for shallow losses would be particularly helpful for young farmers.

Shallow loss insurance coverage is covered under a provision of the crop insurance law recently proposed by Congressional Representative Neugebauer. The bill's coverage would be triggered when losses hit 10 percent and protect the insured for losses up to 30 percent.