“It’s March Madness, but has nothing to do with college basketball,” says Steve Johnson, retired farm business extension adviser from Iowa State University.
There are days left before the March 15 deadline for sign up for federal crop insurance for spring planted crops. And while the deadline may seem like an annual event, the opportunity for farmers this year is unlike any other.
“For the first time, we can talk about better coverage and lower premiums. It’s the year to capture it,” says Ben Rand with Blue Line Ag Hedge.
All federal crop insurance plans, rates and rules are set by the government, with the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill in 2025 “flipped things on its head,” as said by Jerrod Creed with JC Marketing Services.
Creed notes between the USDA agencies of RMA and FSA, farmers need to be doing a lot of homework and engaging with their team of advisors spanning their broker, insurance agent, attorney, CPA, and more to fully capture the opportunities now available.
Rand emphasizes how this year’s sign up is different saying, “OBBB has really changed that fundamentally because of the support the federal government has given the top line products of ECO and SCO–going from 44% to 80% subsidy and the cost is minimal.”
There are new insurance products, increased coverage plans, and different tools for farmers to consider.
“They are offering more premium subsidies to entice people to enroll,” says Cory Walter, from university of Nebraska. “I’m not sure it’s a long term strategy but we have them right now.”
On Deadline: Important to understand the options
In addition to multiperil insurance, RMA is offering different options and some of which can be stacked. Some of those new tools in the toolbox include:
ECO (Enhanced coverage option)
As explained by Rand, this is a top-end product with 85% to 95% coverage factored on your APH. This means every farmer will have a difference in premium and coverage. While based on your product, the loss is triggered by the county revenue or yield loss.
SCO (Supplement Coverage Option)
“This is designed to fill the gaps between ECO and Multiperil,”Rand says. “If you are covered 70% multiperil, you can buy SCO from 70 to 86%. It’s similar to ECO but a gap filler.”
ECO and SCO can be bought individually or stacked.
CLIP (Crop Livestock Income Protection)
This is a new product, and one Rand says has a specific fit for farmers from North Dakota to Texas and then Texas to Georgia. He says the crop product is more popular than the livestock.
“You can’t take CLIP and SCO together because they virtually work the same. For example, it provides coverage for hail, you can stack crops together, and buy them all up to 85% so it pays up to your loss of production,” Rand says.
Could New Provisions Speed Up Farm Transitions?
From the OBBB, Creed points to the beginning farmer and rancher benefits which provide for 15% on top of the 85% that’s included.
“It’s like adding 15 basis points of subsidy to the beginning farmer or rancher, and they can pay 20 cents on the dollar compared to those who don’t qualify. In that way, farm transition could be speeding up.”
He also points to provisions from FSA benefiting the ascending generation.
“For FSA, before to trigger event it was at 80% now it’s at 90%, and they had 10% cap payment that’s now 12%. PLC and reference prices were raised. Payment limitations per eligible individual—not entity–went from $125,000 to $150,000 with the possibility of it going to $160,000 based on inflationary conditions.”
Intertwined Risk Management Strategy
The insurance advisers recommend layering programs and ensuring you have a comprehensive risk management approach, which includes timing of crop sales.
“Grain marketing, crop insurance and our farm programs are all exposed to the board of trade–up and down,” Creed says. “Today, the U.S. farmer has never had as good of a safety net.”
