HILLSBORO, Texas (KXXV) — Livestock Risk Protection insurance is giving Texas ranchers a financial safety net when cattle markets shift — and the federal program has drawn attention from as far away as France.
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For farmers and ranchers, livestock insurance can be just as important as car, home, or health coverage. Livestock Risk Protection, known as LRP, is designed to help manage financial risk during market shifts — and one French college student is spending the summer in Hillsboro learning how the system works.
Jacob Little, owner of Crop & Range Insurance Services in Hillsboro, said federal crop insurance exists to keep agricultural operations afloat when conditions turn against them.
"The primary role of federal crop insurance is to basically provide a financial safety net for farmers and ranchers... when things don't go as planned, we can help keep things on track so these guys stay in business," Little said.
Unlike traditional insurance that covers physical damage, LRP is designed to protect a rancher's profit by stabilizing the future value of their cattle.
"Essentially what we're guaranteeing is that the value of your cattle in the future stays relatively the same to what it is now," Little said.
The program has attracted interest beyond Texas. Harold Liger, an agricultural engineering student from France, found the small Hillsboro agency through a Google search while looking for an international internship required for his degree.
"So I find my internship because I need in France to do an international internship in order to have my agricultural engineering degree. So I find the company on Google and I just send a message about an email. At the company and he said go," Liger said.
The experience has also given Liger a new perspective on how the U.S. approach to agricultural insurance differs from what farmers face in France.
"They protect farmers... they protect the economy of farmers... We have crop insurance in France, but we don't have it from the federal government, so farmers need to pay everything," Liger said.
Little said the exchange has been mutually beneficial for his team.
"We're fortunate that we ended up having one come all the way from France to work with us this summer... we're probably learning more from him than he's learning from us," Little said.
For Liger, the internship is the fulfillment of a longtime goal.
"Thank you to my company Crop & Range Insurance Services to give me the opportunity to be here because since I'm young, my dream is to come to Texas and now it's true," Liger said.
While Livestock Risk Protection won't stop threats like New World Screwworm, insurance experts say it can give ranchers more financial stability if cattle markets change, helping prevent operations from going under.
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