2023 Crop Insurance Round-up

02 Mar 2023 Crop Insurance Round-up

2023 Crop Insurance Round-Up

Jeff Dickey
Crop Insurance Agent

As I write this post, we are in the final day of our discovery period for crop insurance. Do you want the good news or bad news first?

Bad news? OK, the soybean spring price is going to be set at $13.76, which is fifty-seven cents lower than last year but also the second-highest spring price for soybeans ever. This will result in some lower premium prices, which is part of the good news. The rest of the good news is the markets haven’t gone crazy for the month of February, so our volatility factor is 5 points lower than the previous year. The volatility factor makes a big impact on the insurance premium and is calculated in the last five days of February.

As we stand the corn spring price will be up a penny over last year and top out at $5.91, but the lower volatility factor will result in a lower premium. Some of the preliminary quotes we’ve ran in the office has seen a reduction in corn premium from 10-20%. What an excellent year for crop insurance. With the value in the market, growers should keep it simple, select your revenue protection at 80-85% and top it off with wind and hail. With the weather events becoming more dramatic and frequent in the past few years, don’t leave yourself exposed to this easily covered risk.

Lastly, after you’ve got your basics covered, we can look at some additional private products like ECO, SCO, or some of the individual buy-up options that can cover up to 95% of approved production. When talking to your agent this spring, make sure they are considering what is in your best interest and not just selling policies. If you would like a second opinion, I would be more than happy to review, explain, or analyze the options you selected.

We will continue to be here for our valued customers, providing sensible crop insurance options based on their actual production history. Stay safe this spring!