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.

Prevented planting insurance claims could easily set a record this year despite lower limits on coverage imposed by the Agriculture Department because of concerns that growers were being overpaid in the past.

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.

Calls for flexibility with the haying and grazing of cover crops on prevented planting acres have USDA exploring its options and lawmakers trying to make it easier for them to do so.

The Trump administration’s announcement of a new trade assistance package, plus congressional agreement on disaster relief for prevented plantings, will put billions of dollars into the struggling farm economy, but the prospective aid is injecting new uncertainty into the planting decisions facing growers across the soggy Plains and Midwest.

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.