News

Lower revenue insurance prices expected

The Vice President of Farm Services at NAU Country Insurance says he’s expecting lower guarantees for revenue protection insurance this month.

Rich Morrison says the base price isn’t finalized until the end of February and currently…

“For corn, it looks like we might be down more than $1 from last year, but last year was an aberration, of course, there was $5.91 corn and $13.72 soybeans. This year, it’s different. Soybeans might be more than $2 lower than last year.”

Revenue protection insures farmers against yield losses from natural causes like drought or disease and revenue losses caused by a change in the harvest price from the projected price. Farmers can choose the higher price to be paid for crop losses, selecting either the February base price or the October harvest price.

He says the lower base price probably won’t discourage farmers from choosing revenue protection, but their reason for choosing it might be different from last year.

“Last year, most people were looking at coverages as a way to lock in a profit margin and this year, I think we’re looking at similar policies, but just trying to cover cost of production.”

He says the volatility factors are also expected to be lower this year.

The deadline for Midwest farmers to sign-up for revenue protection is March 15.