With harvest in the homestretch, now is a good time to schedule a meeting with your crop insurance agent to provide them with your actual crop production numbers.
The final harvest prices for crop insurance for the 2022 crops are $6.86 per bushel for corn and $13.81 per bushel for soybeans.
These are the average futures prices for December CME corn and November CME soybean contracts during the month of October, says Steve Johnson, retired Iowa State University Extension farm management specialist. The corn harvest price is higher than the spring projected price of $5.90 per bushel, however the soybean harvest price is lower than the $14.33 per bushel.
“For corn, the revenue guarantee will be adjusted higher for farmers who purchased revenue-based crop insurance with the Harvest Price Option (HPO),” he says. “For soybeans, since the spring projected price is higher than the harvest price, the revenue guarantee would remain the same.”
The final harvest prices and your actual production are the final pieces in determining your potential crop insurance indemnity claim for both 2022 corn and soybeans.
“Most farmers purchase a revenue policy at higher levels of coverage (80% or 85%),” Johnson says. “Farmers experiencing significant yield losses this fall below their farm’s Actual Production History (APH), should keep good production records and report these numbers to their crop insurance agent immediately upon completion of harvest.”
Since corn and soybean yields will vary across farms and many insured farmers use enterprise unit coverage, crop insurance indemnity claims will also vary.
7 Helpful Crop Insurance Reminders
As with any relationship, good communication is key and will be critical as harvest wraps up and production evidence is submitted. Johnson suggests following these reminders in working with your crop insurance agent.
- Report production as soon as harvest is completed to identify potential losses so your agent can prepare a loss claim estimate.
- Contact your agent immediately upon discovery of crop losses.
- Before feeding grain to livestock, request bin measurements.
- If you’re going to have a late harvest or unharvested crops, discuss your options.
- The drought damage might have created crop quality issues in some fields. Discuss those quality concerns or questions on how the policy will handle them.
- Talk to your tax advisor about the impact of receiving an indemnity payment and the year it is taxable. An IRS form for annual deferral can likely be utilized.
- Make sure you pay your premium in a timely fashion and avoid interest charges.
Johnson is a retired farm management specialist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. He can still be reached at sdjohns@iastate.edu.
