Welcome to Growers National Co-op

Growers National Cooperative Insurance Agency, Inc. (GNC), was formed as a result of the Agricultural Risk Protection Act of 2000 which states, "partnerships between approved insurance providers and farmer-owned cooperatives provide an opportunity for agricultural producers to obtain needed insurance coverage on a more competitive basis and at a lower cost."  The management of CropUSA was instrumental in the conceptualization and formation of GNC.  GNC will play an integral role in the distribution and consolidation of insurance policies purchased by farmers and will serve as a key marketing tool to differentiate our offering from those of other agents.

GNC is distinctly different from other businesses.  These differences are found in its purpose, ownership, control, and how benefits are distributed.  GNC members will unite to get services and products for their mutual benefit.  Acting together gives members the advantage of size and bargaining power.

When GNC generates margins from efficient operations, these earnings will be returned to members in proportion to their use of the cooperative.  Without GNC, these funds would go to middlemen or processors.

Role of the Co-op

The passage of the Agricultural Risk Protection Act on June 20, 2000, provides significant opportunities to GNC by authorizing an additional expenditure of $8.2B over five years in the federal crop insurance program by primarily offering higher subsidies for farmers who buy MPCI and Crop Revenue Coverage.  One of the primary goals of the Act is to encourage more participation by farmers.

The law acknowledges the roll cooperatives and associations could play in encouraging producer participation in the federal crop insurance program, improving the delivery system for crop insurance, and helping to develop new and improved insurance products.  The Risk Management Agency (RMA), through its regulatory activities, has been asked to encourage efforts by farmer owned cooperatives to obtain needed insurance coverage on a more cost-competitive basis.

In early 2000, the United States Senate provided the following comments on the role they believed cooperatives could play in the distribution of MPCI.

H.R.2559 Agricultural Risk Protection Act of 2000 SEC. 164. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS REGARDING THE FEDERAL CROP INSURANCE PROGRAM. It is the sense of the Congress that -  farmer-owned cooperatives play a valuable role in achieving the purposes of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.) by -    (A) encouraging producer participation in the Federal crop insurance program;    (B) improving the delivery system for crop insurance; and    (C) helping to develop new and improved insurance products; the Risk Management Agency, through its regulatory activities, should encourage efforts by farmer-owned cooperatives to promote appropriate risk management strategies among their membership; partnerships between approved insurance providers and farmer-owned cooperatives provide opportunity for agricultural producers to obtain needed insurance coverage on a more competitive basis and at a lower cost; the Risk Management Agency is following an appropriate regulatory process to ensure the continued participation by farmer-owned cooperatives in the delivery of crop insurance;…