While farm state lawmakers may have preserved crop insurance funding in the budget, the Environmental Working Group has backed cuts in the program since the writing of the farm bill. Director of Midwest Outreach Brett Lorenzen says most taxpayers would agree that getting a 10-percent guaranteed return to run a program, as proposed in the budget deal, is fair. And he doesn’t think a cut in their margin would result in a major exodus of crop insurance companies out of the business.

He agrees that agriculture took its share of budget cuts in the past. However, he says if the farm bill gets reopened ag groups invited it by not having a transparent process when negotiators wrote the farm legislation.

The leadership has reportedly struck a deal in the House to preserve the crop insurance cuts. However, the Senate must still vote on the measure.