Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 11/20/17

Industry leaders in Washington and several farmers pushed back last week against a report by the Environmental Working Group that characterized commodity support payments and crop insurance indemnities as "double dipping" - that is, subsidies for the same crop loss or drop in market prices. Reid Phifer, who raises turkey and chickens and grows row crops in North Carolina, told Pro Ag's Catherine Boudreau that "double dipping" makes it sound as if farmers receive crop insurance indemnities every year, which is not the case. 

Phifer has purchased an insurance policy each year since the program began decades ago and only filed a claim once, he said. "Crop insurance is one of the best things from the American people and farmers," he said.

He also notes that his policy guarantees up to 70 percent of production, so it "won't make you whole." For the 2016 crop, Phifer said he received a small amount of money from the Agriculture Risk Coverage commodity program amid a multi-year decline in commodity prices. 

Mary Kay Thatcher, senior director of congressional relations at American Farm Bureau Federation, said that ARC and crop insurance cover two different types of risk. The former protects against revenue losses at the county level while the latter is tailored to individual operations.