Sen. Cramer Leads North Dakota, South Dakota CODELs in Advocating for Sunflower Producers' Insurance in Letter to USDA

WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 -- Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-North Dakota, issued the following news release:

U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) led the North Dakota and South Dakota congressional delegations in sending a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Risk Management Agency (RMA) Acting Administrator Richard Flournoy urging him to improve the sunflower crop insurance system by allowing enterprise units to be insured by type.

"Under the current enterprise unit structure for sunflowers, there are flaws which disadvantage sunflower producers and hinder the potential for increased production," the members wrote. "We appreciate your recent announcement that enterprise units by crop type will be made available to dry bean, dry pea, and wheat producers in 2022. Doing the same for sunflowers would provide consistency for producers and improve the risk management tools."

Senator Cramer is joined on the letter by Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD) and Senators John Hoeven (R-ND) and Mike Rounds (R-SD), as well as Representatives Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) and Dusty Johnson (R-SD).

North Dakota and South Dakota are the two leading states for sunflower production, which accounted for approximately 84 percent of domestic yield in 2020. The National Sunflower Association, headquartered in Mandan, North Dakota, issued a statement in support of the letter.

"The National Sunflower Association thanks Senator Cramer and the rest of the North Dakota and South Dakota delegations for their support to have enterprise units by sunflower type," said National Sunflower Association Executive Director John Sandbakken. "This will strengthen coverage options and increase consistency, clarity, and flexibility, making crop insurance a better risk management tool for sunflower producers."

Click here to read the letter: https://senatorkevincramer.box.com/s/4uifro6niq2ofi4hbryckfv6uwu24erf