Senator Chris Coons is pushing for a federal crop insurance program for the poultry industry.
The recent farm fill contains an amendment that calls for a report on the feasibility of such a program to insure the poultry industry against business disruptions and a catastrophic event.
The Delaware Democrat believes it would have helped out growers like Allen Family Foods in Sussex County which went bankrupt three years ago.
The Salisbury Daily Times reports that Coons noted that other sectors of agriculture benefit from crop insurance and that the poultry industry is trying to encourage younger people to get into the business.
Michael J. Brown, president of the National Chicken Council, argues that such an insurance program would help growers during events like disease or weather or an economic event.
Coons co-sponsored the amendment to the farm bill with Georgia Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss.
