Watts and Associates has announced four listening sessions in which the company will solicit input on a potential federal lamb insurance program. The company has been contracted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency to evaluate the feasibility of offering subsidized production insurance for American lamb producers.
Three in-person listening sessions are planned: Dec. 7 in Belle Fourche, South Dakota; Dec. 9 in San Angelo, Texas; and during the American Sheep Industry Association Annual Convention in Denver as the group has been invited to participate in the Lamb Council meeting on Jan. 12. A virtual session might also be conducted, but details for such a session have yet to be determined.
The form this insurance might take—if it is indeed feasible to implement—has not been determined. The company is interested in soliciting input from all facets of the American sheep industry to determine if the insurance might cover predation losses, disease, cost of gain, margins, rate of gain, price fluctuations or more. The results and recommendations from the study will be submitted to RMA and the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation for consideration.