2012
LOGAN COUNTY FARM OUTLOOK MAGAZINE. LINCOLN DAILY NEWS.com October 23, 2012
16
sure they keep their insurance agents up
to date on every possible claim they may
have to file.
According to statistics from theUniversity
of Illinois, 78 percent of farmers in Illinois
have some form of crop insurance. Of
the acres planted, 59 percent are insured
with revenue protection and 7 percent are
insured with a group risk income plan.
Insurance payments made to farmers
will depend largely on crop prices. As of
Oct. 12, projections placed corn at $7.50
per bushel and around $15.50 per bushel
for soybeans. However, both prices will
likely be higher than these projections. As
a result, insured farmers will likely receive
large insurance payments.
As an example, an actual yield of
120
bushels per acre would result in an
insurance payment of $210 per acre for a
$7.50 harvest price.
While Peters was unsure of specific
figures, he also commented: “I’m not
positive if insurance premiums will
increase much, because they derived from
a multiple-year loss ratio data, so when
you figure in one bad year, the overall
effect won’t be seen directly; but don’t be
surprised to see some changes, plus we
will have to see what corn and soybean
prices are in February before we really
know.”
On a final note, Peters commented on
the state of the Conservation Reserve
Program. CRP is designed to protect areas
of land from erosion, to aid in the filtering
of streams, as well as to create habitats
for wildlife. The Commodity Credit Corp.,
under the FSA, provides rent to farmers
who lease parcels of their land that they
are not using for crops or livestock.
Peters said he does not think that a lot of
farmers will pull out of CRP, as the land in
question is usually unusable, or at the very
least, less productive. Typically, in Logan
County, land in CRP is near too much
water to be of use for crops.
“
Everything is just up in the air right now,”
said Peters, referring to the drought’s effect
on every aspect of agriculture.
[
Derek Hurley]
John Peters is the executive director of the Logan
County FSA office, under the USDA. The USDA
is responsible for the Risk Management Agency.
The RMA provides guidelines and rules to the
various insurance agencies that offer crop and
livestock insurance to farmers nationwide.