Credit: farmdocDAILY

USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) has realized 2021 county yields, meaning payments can now be made on area plans of insurance, such as Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) and Enhanced Coverage Option (ECO). From there, University of Illinois economists will be able to better assess the overall loss performance of Federal crop insurance for 2021.

Data showed that overall, loss payments were low across the country, relative to total premiums. These payments were noticeably lower in the Midwest due to corn and soybeans having few payments. For Illinois, county loss ratios were exceptionally low, ranging from 0.1 to .69. These low loss ratios were due to harvest prices being above projected prices along with yields at or above trend across most of the Midwest, resulting in few yield claims. Higher loss ratios were realized on wheat in the northern Great Plains due to the drought.

Read more on loss ratios and Federal crop insurance data from 2021 here.

Schnitkey, G., C. Zulauf, K. Swanson, N. Paulson and J. Baltz. “The 2021 Crop Insurance Loss Performance.” farmdoc daily (12):100, Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, July 5, 2022.