Crop insurance streamlined for 2011

For several years, the Risk Management Agency of USDA and the various private insurance companies that deliver crop insurance protection have been negotiating a major overhaul of the basic policy that is used for most insurable crops, notes William Edwards, Iowa State University extension economist. The new Common Crop Insurance Policy, also known as COMBO, will go into effect for crops insured this year. Covered crops include corn, soybeans, grain sorghum, wheat, barley, cotton, rice, canola and sunflowers.

“Over the past 20 years, several new types of crop insurance policies have been introduced,” he explains. Major changes included insuring gross revenue instead of bushels, combining insurance units and basing guarantees on county yields instead of individual farm yields. “Eventually, the number of choices became longer and longer, and more confusing. The new policy simplifies and streamlines the choices.”

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