Join Us for the November Farm Foundation and Flinchbaugh Center Policy Forum: Rethinking the Farm Safety Net

The Farm Foundation and Flinchbaugh Center Policy Forum brings together leading experts, policymakers, agricultural leaders, and other stakeholders for thoughtful, nonpartisan dialogue on the critical policy issues shaping food and agriculture. Building on Farm Foundation’s nearly 100-year history of bringing diverse perspectives together to better understand the economic and policy issues facing agriculture, and inspired by Dr. Barry Flinchbaugh’s legacy as a respected agricultural policy educator and champion of informed, civil discourse, the Forum creates a space where ideas can be challenged, common ground can be found, and practical approaches to the future of agricultural policy can be explored.

This year's Forum will focus on the evolving role of the farm safety net and where we might go from here.  Recent research suggests the U.S. farm safety net may be playing a fundamentally different role in American agriculture—moving beyond protecting producers from significant market losses to becoming embedded in the economics of agricultural production. The 2026 Farm Foundation and Flinchbaugh Center Policy Forum brings together agricultural economists, policymakers, farm organizations, lenders, insurers, and agribusiness leaders to examine who benefits from commodity programs, crop insurance, and increasingly frequent ad hoc assistance; how government support influences land values, input costs, lending, and farm profitability; and what should be the safety net purposes 2026=2050. 

Moderator

Speakers