Iowa Farm Bureau members last week urged lawmakers to quickly pass the 2018 Farm Bill with crop insurance funding as a priority.

Members of the Iowa Farm Bureau’s 2018 Ag Leaders class, meeting with Iowa lawmakers on Capitol Hill, emphasized how important crop insurance and other farm bill components are to their farming operations.

Federal crop insurance is the most important risk management tool that farmers have to protect against crop failures and keep their operations sustainable for future years, members said.

“As a young farmer going through farm transition with non-family members, crop in­surance is imperative to my farm transition success and me securing operating loans for my farm going forward,” said Nick Thorson, a Mitchell County Farm Bureau member near ...