Crop Insurance and Replant Decisions

Recent adverse weather conditions may force some growers who have already planted to replant.

If you believe replanting may in your best interest, check the replant provision in your crop insurance policy and immediately contact your insurance agent to get the paperwork started. [Catastrophic (CAT) and Area (Revenue) protection policy do not have replant provisions.] 

The following guidelines, which come from the USDA Risk Management Agency's Loss Adjustment Standards Handbook, will give you an idea of what to expect from crop insurance for replanting.   To qualify for a replanting payment:

1.     The insured crop must be hit with an insured peril (excess moisture, frost, hail, etc.).

2.     Your approved insurance provider must determine that it is practical to replant. (This is why it's best to contact your insurance agent immediately.)

3.     Acres being replanted must have been initially planted on or after the earliest planting date.  

4.     Appraised expected yield must be below 90% of the guarantee yield on acreage intended for replant.

5.     Acreage replanted must be at least the lesser of 20 acres or 20% of the insured planted acreage for the unit.  

6.     Approved insurance provider must give consent to replant. 

7.     The replanting payment will be equal to the projected price multiplied by a maximum bushel factor.  For 

2014 corn and soybean projected prices are $4.62 and $11.36, respectively. Maximum bushel factors are eight bushels per acre for corn and three bushels per acre for soybeans. 

For example, your insured corn crop was hit with excessive moisture. You planted corn on May 1, which is past the earliest planting date ofApril 10.  Appraised expected yield is now 70 bushels per acre (bpa). Actual production history (APH) is 140 bpa. You insured using a Revenue Protection policy at a 75% coverage level using the projected price of $4.62 per acre.  Your yield guarantee would be 105 bpa (140 APH yield x 75% guarantee).  Applying Rule 4 from above, 90% of your yield guarantee is 94.5 bpa (105 x 0.9).  Your expected yield of 70 bpa is less than 94.5 bpa (90% of guaranteed yield).  Consequently, you would receive a replant payment of $36.96/acre (8 bpa x $4.62, the projected price). 

From the example we can see that qualifying for a replanting payment hinges on the producer's yield guarantee.  Selection of a lower coverage level implies a lower yield guarantee and a smaller chance of qualifying for a replant payment.  However, when extreme events occur it is likely everyone will qualify for a replant payment.  If you are unsure whether you may qualify for a replant payment, your first step is to contact your crop insurance agent.

Cory Walters
UNL Extension Crop Economist

Cumulative Precipitation Forecasts 5 Day Total

How To Utilize Your Precipitation-Tracking Features Within Your Growers Edge Account

Welcome back to our “How-To” series, showing you how to get the most out of your free Growers Edge account! Last time, we detailed how to download the free Growers Edge mobile app to manage your farm while on-the-go. In this edition, we will be focusing on the valuable precipitation-tracking features found within GrowersEdge.

With your Growers Edge account, you receive a free daily Your Weather Report email every morning. This email details weather events at your specific farm locations, including:

-       Precipitation reports of recent and cumulative totals by farm location

-       Soil moisture for your area compared to your specific farm location

-       Current hourly forecast for the next 24-hour period detailing temperature, precipitation expectations, and wind speed/direction

-       6-day extended forecast

This email gives you information you can use to take action, every single day. With the very best information in the industry, you can improve your operation’s profitability for free.

Below, we detail how to access several other fantastic features. This includes your Current Rainfall Totals, your Area Soil Moisture, Custom Weather Reports for your locations, and Custom Precipitation Reports by your locations. Take a look:

Getting To "Your Weather"

After logging in to your Growers Edge account at Growers-Edge.com, click "Weather" from the top navigation bar. Underneath "Weather", click "Your Weather" from the submenu.

Looking At Your Local Forecast

From within the "Your Weather" screen (above), click on "Daily Weather Forecast" from within the "Tools" menu on the right side of the screen. This chart will give you an hourly and daily forecast.

Finding The Current Rainfall Total For Your Fields 

From within the "Your Weather" screen, click "Current Rainfall Totals" from within the "Tools" menu on the right side of the screen. This chart will show you the rainfall total in your field's location over the past 24 hours, 48 hours, and 72 hours. It will also show you monthly totals and a breakdown of the chance for precipitation within the next 24 hours. 

Generating Custom Precipitation Reports

  From within the "Your Weather" screen, click "Custom Rainfall Reports" within the "Tools" menu on the right side of the screen. On this screen, you can view precipitation by day, month, since plant date, or year-over-year from the drop-down menu. You can then choose which farm locations you want this report generated for, the dates you want included, and the type of graphyou want generated (line or bar). An example is of a line graph is below.

Viewing Area Soil Moisture

From within the "Your Weather" screen, click on "Area Soil Moisture" from within the "Tools" menu on the right side of the screen. The "Area Soil Moisture" screen shows you weekly precipitation totals and soil moisture. It also shows you how this crop year compares to the past two years.

Viewing Your Soil Moisture

From within the "Your Weather" screen, click on "Your Soil Moisture" from within the "Tools" menu on the right side of the screen. This screen will show you how your field's specific weekly precipitation compares to your area precipitation. It will also give you your fields' soil moisture. It also gives you a nice visual breakdown of your precipitation needed, your area precip, evaporation, and soil moisture.

Signing Up For Daily Precipitation Alerts

You can set up alerts to email you when precipitation is higher than your selected amount. It's easy and takes less than a minute. From within the "Your Weather" screen, click on the "Email Alerts" from within the "Settings" menu on the right side of the screen. Here you can enable email alerts, choose the precipitation amount, set the timing of your alerts, and even choose when to suspend alerts. 

Now, if you still haven't signed up for all these free resources, what are you waiting for?! 26,000 farmers nationwide are already managing their farms and increasing profits with these free tools, and you can too. Sign up by clicking here!