Farming is essential to our local economy. According to the Sussex County Office of Economic Development, the county’s agriculture industry employs 15,000 people and has a market value of more than $1.2 billion. Sussex County is in the top 2% of counties nationally in the value of vegetables produced.
Fortunately, an industry this important to our county and state has a strong supporter in Sen. Russ Huxtable. Through the passage of House Bill 87 (the Delaware Agricultural Production Assistance Program), championed by Sen. Huxtable, farmers will now have less to fear from unpredictable weather, low crop yields or lower-than-anticipated revenues.
Although crop yield and revenue insurance is available to farmers under federal programs, the insurance premiums can be too high for small family-owned farms, resulting in them obtaining inadequate coverage. Under the new program, producers who qualify are eligible to receive a state subsidy of up to 30% of their premium cost, up to a maximum of $10 per acre.
Although I’m not a farmer myself, I do love locally grown vegetables (and our wonderful farmers markets). It must be a challenge to have your livelihood dependent on increasingly variable weather, and unpredictable swings in demand and production. I’m glad Sen. Huxtable had farmers’ interests at heart and pushed for the passage of HB 87.
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