Intellectual exchange
Sep 16, 2015
ARLINGTON, VA -- Farm policy academics from Ibaraki University and Okayama University met with USA Rice Vice President of Government Affairs Ben Mosely and COO Bob Cummings today to discuss current U.S. rice support policies, especially crop insurance.
Japan’s Prime Minister Abe is seeking to reform Japan’s rice sector in a bid to reduce costs and bring supply more in line with demand. Current policies based on direct payments tied to area-restriction programs are not working, and Japan’s government is looking to implement a new insurance-based regime by 2018.
Mosely reviewed the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) insurance programs provided under the 2014 Farm Bill and explained new and existing crop insurance policies utilized by rice farmers.
“It’s clear Japan intends to move away from direct payments, and their farm policy experts were interested in knowing about the U.S. experience following the elimination of direct payments,” said Mosely. “We had a very informed exchange of views on the pros and cons of the various crop insurance options available to U.S. rice farmers and possible applications to Japan.”
USA Rice regularly hosts visiting agricultural specialists from Japan to discuss farm policy issues.