Crop insurance

Should a small guy like me starting out get crop insurance? Can I at the size I am? I'm only at 100 acers of row crops and small grains! I know nothing about crop insurance so any info will be helpful?

It works best where you can achieve high yields and only make a claim no more than one year out of five on average. A situation such as I described then I would recommend doing it for a high coverage rate. If your yields are kind of subpar but you turn a profit most years it is not going to do a whole lot but the minimum coverage level will pay the bills in a disaster. Do outright disasters occur in your area with regularity? Meaning there is very little crop to be harvested. One thing to consider is the insurance company will track your yields and will adjust your yields based on production which can be a good thing or can be a bad thing. If your county corn yield average is 165 bushels per acre that is your starting point for coverage. If you start running 145 bushels on average for a few years that will factor into your farm history and will then be the basis for your coverage. So instead of being able to insure based on 165 bushels you will be covered based on your choice of a percentage of 145 bushels. This will make it harder to make a claim. Again, I will point out if your yields are subpar for any reason and that could be your soil does not measure up to your county's best then there can be drawbacks. Also, remember that there is a no later than date for harvest. If your crops tend to sit in the field until the ground freezes in January your crops are no longer covered.

The big thing with crop insurance is that it is an individual thing. Five different people can post here and have five different opinions. I knew a fellow who believed in self insuring or just setting aside some profit each year for an emergency. This fellow had a very unique situation with ultra productive ground and the ability to choose a wide variey of crops to grow which means vegetables. Some will find that it is difficult to have a year that will allow the insurance to pay off even if they do not have high production because they do not have the disaster. In the end you are going to have to closely study your own operation to know what is right.

I work less ground than you and buy it. Never worried about it until a couple years ago when we had the drought. I just try to set it up to where it would cover my seed and fertilizer cost. Would hate to go out of business already.