Agriculture is at the heart of american industry
Which stands to reason – everyone needs to eat. But if you’re a farmer, you know that you’re at the mercy of many external forces – insects, weather, markets and food bloggers. Crop Insurance is here to provide farmers – and the billions of people they feed – a much needed safety net.
What is Crop Insurance?
Broadly speaking, crop insurance in the US protects farmers who have planted a crop against either a less-than-expected yield (due to specified risks like natural disasters) or less-than-expected revenue based on the commodity futures markets at the time of planting.
Since a price drop or natural disaster affects so many farmers in an area, crop insurance in the US is managed by the Federal Government’s Risk Management Agency, which sets price projections, offers subsidized premiums, and helps keep the risks spread out nationwide.
Crop Yield Insurance
There are plenty of external factors that can have a negative impact on your harvest; Crop Yield Insurance, also known as Multi-Peril Crop Insurance protects your crop from all manner of natural perils. This includes weather events like Hail, Excessive Rain, and Drought; and some policies include provisions for losses due to insects, disease, earthquakes and fires.
Crop Revenue Insurance
Nature isn’t the only dangerous force when it comes to growing food. Agricultural commodities are traded on futures market exchanges, and there’s always a possibility of prices changing in unexpected ways. Everything can go right all year just for the bottom to drop out of the market. Crop Revenue insurance lets you buy coverage on every acre you’ve planted for a projected price that is set by the Risk Management Agency at the beginning of the season.
What Crops Does Crop Insurance Cover?
The crops for which Crop Insurance is available varies from state to state and county to county. Crop insurance in the US covers over 100 crops in total, and your crop insurance agent can help tell you what’s covered in your county. 70% of enrolled acres in the US are just four crops: corn, wheat, soybeans and cotton.
How Does Crop Insurance Work?
Buying crop insurance should be part of planning what to plant – you need to register the acres with the Risk Management Agency (your insurance agent can help with that). Policies must be purchased before deadlines set by the RMA – usually Mid-March for Spring planted cops, and late September for Winter Wheat. The Federal Government will cover an average of 62% of premiums, so you can focus on feeding the world.
Like many government programs, crop insurance has a lot of moving parts. Plummer Insurance has an experienced team of dedicated Crop Insurance experts that know the ins and outs of making sure every acre is covered.