Payments from crop insurance predicted to be lower this year

Crop Insurance

As the soybean and corn seasons are coming to a close, producers are wondering about payouts due to price drops. The harvest season for soybeans and corn is now on its way to closing, and as 2015 wraps up, many farmers are starting to wonder if they will be receiving any payments from their crop insurance coverage, since the prices have been declining this year. Last year, many growers in northern Iowa and Minnesota saw yields considerably lower than typical. The lower than average yields, in combination with the reduced…

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Last year saw crop insurance payments plummet

crop insurance rules

Since 2014 saw pretty good production throughout the year, the federal program had to make far fewer payouts. In terms of the overall 2014 growing year, the calculations by the Risk Management Agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture with regards to the federal crop insurance program have shown that last year saw a reduction in payments by 26 percent when compared to the figures from the year before. The agency report showed in 2014, there was a total of $8.8 billion in payments for yield and price loss coverage.…

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Crop insurance program wastes $7.8 billion, says environmental group

Corn Belt - GMO Crop Insurance program

A new report has suggested that farmers in the Corn Belt have been massively overcompensated. The results of an analysis that was commissioned by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) have now been released in a report which suggests that the federal crop insurance program’s compensation to farmers in the Corn Belt who experienced the greatest devastation from the drought in 2012, had actually been too high by an estimated $7.8 billion. The payouts from that disaster totaled approximately $14 billion, but the report said that far less would have sufficed.…

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Crop insurance payouts in Indiana reach new high

private Crop Insurance

The current estimate is that there have already been $1.04 billion paid out following the 2012 drought. The drought of 2012 left massive damage behind for farms throughout Indiana, and it is now estimated that the result of that devastation is over $1.04 billion in crop insurance payouts; a level that surpasses the payments from all previous years. This represents a massive loss in the state, particularly because one quarter of Indiana crops are uninsured. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released these statistics this week, highlighting the damage that…

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Crop insurance helps farmers and insurers alike

Crop Insurance

These policies, subsidized by the federal government, help protect against losses. When plants fail to grow or are damaged by poor or severe weather, or even when prices plummet, the government is footing the majority of the bill through a crop insurance program for farmers. This coverage helps both the growers and the insurers who write the policies. It functions by providing subsidies to the farmers and the insurers in the case that losses from crops should grow too large. These subsidies are partially paid for by taxpayer dollars. The…

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