Congress of the Cited States Washington, DE 20510 September 25, 2019 Clifton Parks President AgriLogic Consulting, LLC 1700 Research Parkway #290 Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77845 Dear Mr. Parks: ‘We write today concerning AgriLogic Consulting's development of a Federal Yield-Based Industrial Hemp Crop Insurance Program. As patt of this process, we understand AgriLogic is, developing pilot programs in several states that could begin as early as the 2020 crop year— subject to approval by the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) Board of Directors, which is managed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Risk Management Agency. We have concerns that Virginia is not currently under consideration for a pilot program for the 2020 growing season, despite having a robust Industrial Hemp Program that has led to exponential growth in hemp production over the past year, as well as a prior centuries-long history of hemp being a key commodity in Virginia agriculture, We urge you to strongly consider including, Virginia in this program. Virginia growers have taken full advantage of recent changes in federal law to become national leaders in industrial hemp research and development. As of July 2019, over 800 Virginia producers had registered with the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) to grow more than 8,500 acres of hemp this year. Additionally, VDACS projects that Virginia growers could plant up to 15,000 acres of hemp by the 2020 growing season. If these projections are met, Virginia would be one of the top hemp-producing states in the country by acre. Inclusion of Virginia growers would provide valuable data for AgriLogic’s pilot program; further, access to the crop insurance program would ensure that the Commonwealth’s growers are appropriately protected against unforeseen disasters. As AgriLogic works to finalize its hemp crop insurance pilot, we ask that Virginia receive full and equal consideration for inclusion in the program. It is our understanding that VDACS was not even notified of an opportunity to request consideration for this program until initial pilot states had already been selected. We believe including Virginia would result in the development of a stronger and more robust insurance product, which would benefit growers, processors, ‘consumers, and taxpayers across the country. ‘Thank you for your attention to this matter. We look forward to your response.Moh. R Wee MARK R. WARNER United States Senator Dek DENVER RIGGLEMAN Member of Congress Member of Congress ELMINE G. LURIA ‘Member of Congress Jar )2> TIM KAINE, United States Senator pen YL D ncepin ABIGAIL SPANBERGER |” ‘Member of Congress 3. BI Member of Congres