Ag Alert. May 17, 2023

Insurance Continued from Page 1

Agricultural Market Review

the same, competitive insurance policy. “You could find yourself in a scenario where your residential policy would end up on the clearinghouse list, but the policies written for the building across the driveway would still be in the FAIR Plan,” Ansel said. Senate Bill 505, authored by state Sen. Susan Rubio, D-Baldwin Park, and spon- sored by the California Farm Bureau, would add commercial policies to the FAIR Plan clearinghouse so that they can re-enter the competitive market and get better in- surance coverage. It passed the Senate last week and now goes to the state Assembly. “California’s farmers and ranchers need insurance options to safeguard their ability to continue producing the food that America needs,” said California Farm Bureau President Jamie Johansson. “Senate Bill 505 provides agricultural producers who turned to the California FAIR plan the ability to re- turn to the competitive insurance market.” The legislation is supported not just by farmers but also insurers, brokers and agents, he added. “California businesses do best when they have more choices for insurance coverage,” said California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, who co-sponsored the bill with the Farm Bureau. “Giving them more options must be our top priority.” (Caleb Hampton is an assistant edi- tor of Ag Alert. He may be contacted at champton@cfbf.com.)

Quotations are the latest available for the week ending May 12, 2023 Year Ago Week Ago Latest Week Livestock Slaughter Steers – 5-Area Average Select & Choice, 1150–1460 lbs., $ per cwt. 140 171-172 170-175 Hogs – Average hog, 51-52% lean, Iowa-Minn. market, $ per cwt. 97.82 72.73 75.23 Slaughter Lambs – $ per cwt. 125–175 lbs. National weekly live sales 187-273 144-165 156 Field crops – basis prompt shipment Barley – U.S. No. 2, $ per cwt. Truck, Stockton-Modesto-Oakdale-Turlock No Quote No Quote No Quote Cotton – ¢ per lb., Middling 1 3/32” Fresno spot market 94.49 79.60 77.15 Corn – U.S. No. 2 yellow $ per bu. trucked 9.89 8.26 8.39 Alfalfa Hay – $ per ton, quality*, FOB Region 1, Northern Inter-mountain No Quote No Quote 300 (S) Region 2, Sacramento Valley No Quote No Quote No Quote Region 3, Northern San Joaquin Valley No Quote 385 (P/S) 400 (P/S) Region 4, Central San Joaquin Valley No Quote 360 (G/P) 440 (S) Region 5, Southern California No Quote No Quote 25 (P, per bale) Region 6, Southeast Interior 365-380 (P/S) 325 (P) 330 (P) Oat Hay – $ per ton, quality*, FOB Northern California, dairy No Quote No Quote No Quote Oats – U.S. No. 2 white, $ per cwt. Statewide, trucked price No Quote No Quote No Quote

Ansel said. “When we’re talking about farmers, they need to be able to access loans to build those farm operations and facilities.” In 2021, lawmakers passed Senate Bill 11 to include commercial farm structures in the FAIR Plan. It was an important step, farmers say, but the policies were expen- sive and did not provide comprehensive coverage for many farms. “People have had to get creative to meet the insurance threshold their lender re- quires,” Nissen said. “Before, they might have had one policy that covered five or six properties. Now, they may have several different policies to get the proper cover- age because no one will cover everything.” The FAIR Plan was not meant to be a per- manent solution. “The goal is to get back into the competitive market where the rates will hopefully be better and the pol- icies will be comprehensive,” Ansel said. To the extent that they have reassessed the risk profile of certain areas, “that’s also what insurance companies want,” he add- ed. “They want to be able to compete and write more policies for businesses.” The FAIR Plan has a clearinghouse where insurance companies can browse its poli- cies and make coverage offers. However, the clearinghouse lists only residential policies, not commercial ones, preventing farmers from bringing all their properties back under

Dry Beans – Grower FOB prices Baby Limas, $ per cwt, (sacked) Large Limas, $ per cwt. (sacked) Blackeye, $ per cwt. (sacked)

No Quote No Quote No Quote

Rice – Milled No. 1 Head, FOB No. Calif. mills Medium grain, $ per cwt. Wheat – U.S. No. 2 or better, winter, $ per cwt. 13% protein, Los Angeles, trucked price

54-56

70-71

70-72

No Quote No Quote Provided by the California Farm Bureau as a service to Farm Bureau members. Information supplied by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Market News Branch. * ADF=Acid detergent fiber; (S) = Supreme/<27%ADF; (P) = Premium/27-29; (G) = Good/29-32; (F) = Fair/32-35. No Quote

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16 Ag Alert May 17, 2023