Don’t cut crop insurance because of AgriStability

Many grain producers have been able to build up good AgriStability reference margins. With that kind of protection in place, there may be a temptation to cut back on crop insurance coverage and save money on premiums. There are a number of good reasons to resist this temptation. The two programs are designed to work together so that producers are not disadvantaged by participating in both. This includes automatic adjustments to crop insurance premiums if necessary. On the other hand, if you cut back coverage under crop insurance, payments you would have received due to a very poor crop are imputed for AgriStability. In other words, your AgriStability payment may be cut back based on what you could have received under crop insurance. It’s also important to note that crop insurance payments add to your AgriStability margins for subsequent years. As well, you can receive crop insurance for the failure of one type of crop, even though your other crops may not be in a claim position. Cash flow is another consideration. Crop Insurance money flows a lot faster than AgriStability payments. At $5 to $20 an acre, crop insurance premiums add up, but cutting coverage could be even more costly than you think. I’m Kevin Hursh.