According to the U of I report yesterday, Revenue Protection is the predominate crop insurance product used for corn and soybeans in Illinois.  Many farmers use high coverage levels.  For those farmers using Revenue Protection at high coverage levels, continuing the same choice in 2019 seems prudent.

Remember, as you are signing up for crop insurance in the coming weeks, investigate the new Multi-County Enterprise Unit for fields not eligible for an enterprise unit in adjacent counties.  This crop insurance option was pursued by the Illinois Corn Growers Association at the request of its membership and will reduce farmer-paid premiums on farms outside of the enterprise unit county.

Overall – considering all options and endorsements - crop insurance use has been relatively stable since 2013.  Crop insurance use increased from 58% of corn acres in 1997 up to 87% of corn acres in 2013. Crop insurance was used to insure 87% of corn acres in each year since 2013. For soybeans, insurance has been used on 85 or 86% of planted acres in each year from 2015 to 2018.

ICGA takes these numbers as a sign of success that our work to improve crop insurance for Illinois farmers was meaningful for farm families.

Read more about Revenue Protection elections and crop insurance trends from the University of Illinois’ Dr. Gary Schnitkey here.

Schnitkey, G. "Revenue Protection Most Popular Crop Insurance Choice in Illinois." farmdoc daily (9):16, Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, January 29, 2019.