US Senator Jeanne Shaheen has introduced legislation to overhaul the federal crop insurance programme, cut roughly $40 bn in spending over the next decade, tighten rules around fraud and abuse, and shift support toward smaller farms.
The proposal arrives as many small and diversified farms face higher costs tied to President Donald Trump’s tariffs, along with rising fuel and fertiliser prices linked to the conflict with Iran.
Shaheen, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and ranking member of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies Subcommittee, said taxpayers should not be subsidising profits for crop insurance companies and large agribusinesses while smaller farms struggle to access meaningful support.
She said farmers in New Hampshire have told her the crop insurance system does not work for them and that Trump administration policies are driving up their costs.
In her view, support should move toward small farms serving local communities, while the federal government cuts waste and exposes abuse in the programme.
The federal crop insurance programme is expected to cost taxpayers more than $14bn this year alone.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, Shaheen’s Assisting Family Farmers through Insurance Reform Measures Act, known as the AFFIRM Act, would save more than $40 bn over 10 years through tighter limits, more transparency, and lower waste, without reducing support for farmers who genuinely need it.
The bill would cap federal crop insurance subsidies at $40,000 per farmer each year and remove premium subsidies for individuals with adjusted gross income above $250,000.
It would also reduce government support for crop insurance companies by limiting administrative and operating payments to $900 mn, down from $1.5 bn.
Another provision would end subsidies for Harvest Price Option policies. Farmers would still be able to buy those policies, though taxpayers would no longer cover the cost.
The bill also increases disclosure requirements by mandating reporting on all individuals and entities receiving federally subsidised crop insurance.
Shaheen first introduced the AFFIRM Act in 2015 with then-Senator Jeff Flake and brought it back again in 2020 with then-Senator Pat Toomey.
The latest version has backing from groups including Taxpayers for Common Sense, R Street, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, the National Taxpayers Union, Farm Action Fund, and the Environmental Working Group.
Shaheen has also pointed to her wider record on agricultural policy in New Hampshire.
In the fiscal 2026 Ag-FDA appropriations legislation, she said she protected conservation tools used by the state’s producers, kept funding in place for Farm Service Agency staffing in county offices, made $10.5 bn in farm loans available to help producers access capital nationwide, and backed research aimed at improving cultivation practices in New England.
Last year, she held two roundtable discussions with farmers and agricultural producers from across New Hampshire to discuss the impact of the Trump administration’s freeze on tens of billions of dollars in USDA funding.
In 2024, she also helped secure disaster supplemental funding for farmers affected by crop losses in 2023.
