Crop Insurance Producer Responsibilities

Farmer standing in field looking at a tractor planting.

Overview
Production Reporting
In the Event of a Loss
Acreage Reporting
Replant Procedures
Prevented Planting

Overview

Crop insurance is an essential tool to manage risks associated with crop production. It provides financial protection against losses due to natural disasters, pests and other unforeseen events. As a producer, it is your responsibility to ensure that your crop insurance production reporting is accurate and up to date. Here are some key points to keep in mind.

Production Reporting

Report your crop production accurately by unit to your Crop Growers agent.
Report your production by the production reporting date.
Keep all production records separate by unit.
Maintain all records used to compile your production for three years.
If production certified by you is off by more than 5% from your production records, assigned yields will apply and optional units (if applicable) will be combined.

In the Event of a Loss

Notify your Crop Growers agent or the Crop Growers main office within 72 hours of a weather event OR when you notice any crop damage. Do not hesitate to call — even if you are unsure of the extent of damage.
Contact your Crop Growers agent or the Crop Growers main office IMMEDIATELY if you do not hear from an adjuster within 48 hours.
When contacted by an adjuster, create a plan on when (date and time) they will be viewing the crop.
ALWAYS be sure you have communicated with the adjuster before destroying, putting it to another use or harvesting the crop.
ALWAYS accompany the adjuster in the field when they are performing loss adjusting activities. It is much better to ask questions at that time rather than after the process is complete.
Sign adjuster’s paperwork after they have explained what activities were completed and you agree with the information.
Obtain copies of all documents from the adjuster’s activities prior to them leaving your farm.

Acreage Reporting

Report ALL planted acreage to your Crop Growers agent by the acreage reporting deadline.
Report ALL acreage: This includes prevented planting, uninsurable acreage, late-planted acreage and insurable acreage.
Report the location — by farm serial number, tract number and field number — of all acreage.
Report the date you were finished planting for each unit. For acreage planted after the final plant date, acreage must be reported by plant date.

Replant Procedures

The insurance company must provide consent to replant PRIOR to preparing for replanting the insured crop. If this consent is not provided, then no replant indemnity will be paid.
Acreage to be replanted must constitute 20 acres or 20% of a unit to be eligible for replant.
The cause of loss for replant must be an insured cause of loss as stated in the policy.
If the insurance company decides that the crop, if properly cared for, will meet 90% of the guarantee per acre, then no replant indemnity will be paid.
If acreage of the insured crop is damaged and the insurance company determines that the acreage is practical to replant but it is NOT replanted, then that acreage will be considered uninsurable and no indemnity will be paid.
Replant payments per acre are as follows:

Grain Corn — 8 bushels times the established price per bushel
Silage Corn — 1 ton times the established price per ton
Soybeans — 3 bushels times the established price per bushel

Prevented Planting

File a notice of Prevented Planting loss with your Crop Growers agent by the earlier of:

72 hours after the final planting date, OR
72 hours after you determine within the late planting period you will not be able to plant

Report ALL prevented planting acres on your acreage report
If you do not plant a second crop OR plant a hay/cover crop after the late planting period, you will receive the FULL prevented planting payment and pay the FULL premium on those acres. Corn planted after the late planting period will not be considered a cover crop.
If you do plant a second crop after the late planting period, you will receive 35% of the prevented planting payment and pay 35% of the premium.
To be eligible for prevented planting:

You must have been prevented from planting the lower of at least 20 acres OR 20% of any unit. Example: a 40 acre unit — 9 acres prevented and 31 acres planted; 9 acres is 23% of the total unit — it would meet eligibility.
Eligible acres will be the maximum number of planted, insured acres reported in ANY of the four most recent crop years.
If you have never planted the crop in the county OR have not planted the crop in one of the last four years, then your eligible prevented acres will be based on the Intended Acreage Report that must be signed and submitted by March 15.