Crop insurance premiums may cause farmers “sticker shock” this year.
The reasons are threefold. One being the option to add enhanced coverage, or ECO, to the policies which cover income on an acre of corn or soybeans.
The other two involve the higher price of commodities
An economist gives an example using a premium calculator.
According to Gary Schnitkey, an ag economist with Illinois Extension, “RP 85 percent product, last year that would have been $12.70. This year, it would be $26.27 with a projected price of $4.88 and volatility of 0.24. If we had the same volatility as last year and that projected price... the RP premium would only go up to $16 dollars per acre. So, $10 dollars more because of volatility increases.”
He encourages farmers to use the enhanced coverage option.
