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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Last year, about 19.1 million acres were covered under prevented planting provisions in insurance policies and the indemnity payments have already reached almost $4.3 billion.
Growers paid over $10 billion to insure almost 380 million acres in 2019. By year-end, crop insurance companies paid out almost $7.6 billion to cover losses and the numbers are expected to grow as all claims are finalized.
A five-year, USDA-funded study says that producers can’t get the insurance coverage they need either because it’s unavailable for their particular crops or won’t cover their losses adequately because of the conservation practices they follow.
USDA’s Risk Management Agency has issued a clarification of an earlier press release to make clear that farmers will receive a 15% top-up payment on prevented planting indemnities this year if their insurance policies had the Harvest Price Option.
An insurance policy created to help diversified operations, specialty crop growers and small farms better manage their risk has slipped in popularity over the past two years, but advocates say a series of changes USDA is making in the program could reverse the decline.
Agriculture Department officials expect farmers to file more than $1 billion in insurance claims for acreage they were unable to plant due to the succession of storms across the Midwest and Mississippi River valley this spring.
USDA’s Risk Management Agency will permit growers who plant cover crops on prevented planting acres to access that forage two months earlier than previously allowed.
New figures from the Department of Agriculture show an increase in tractor tires rolling in the last week, but a number of them are either sitting still or stuck in the mud as wet conditions hinder planting progress across the country.
Spring planting is likely to be delayed in many parts of the country and some growers may be prevented from planting altogether. But assessing options can be complicated.
