USDA’s crop insurance indemnity payments on 2019 crops, as of January 13, 2020, were $8.1 billion. That is nearly 11% of the $75.3 billion USDA estimated for out-of-pocket costs on seed, pesticides, fertilizer, fuels and oils and electricity.
“Of course, this is not a perfect match and doesn’t consider the additional costs involved in planting a crop, but it does give you an idea how important crop insurance can be in helping producers meet their obligations,” said Tony Jesina, Farm Credit Services of America (FCSAmerica) senior vice president for insurance.
As the map shows, the Dakotas were particularly hard hit.
That is reflected in the indemnities to our customers: “As of January 13, our FCSAmerica crop insurance customers have already received more than $290 million in indemnities,” Jesina added. “To put this in perspective, this is almost double what they received the prior year.”
The following shows how that $290 million was distributed across the Associations' four state territory:
Iowa: $42.2 million
Nebraska: $49.6 million
South Dakota: $192.3 million
Wyoming: $6.0 million
“In our service states, almost any kind of weather event can happen during a given growing season – sometimes more than one on the same farm,” Jesina said. “That’s why we continually work to help producers choose the products and options that best meet their risk management needs – and represent farmers when crop insurance comes under fire.”
