Per a release that was published on March 30, 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is expanding the Margin Protection insurance plan due to growing interest among producers. The expansion is adding more than a thousand counties to the insurance option, including 1,255 counties for soybeans and 1,729 counties for corn. This will add coverage in 22 states for soybeans, with 34 states being covered in total. It will also make Margin protection available for corn in the contiguous United States.

Margin Protection protects against decreases in margin caused by reduced county yields, reduced commodity prices, increased prices of certain inputs, or any combination of these issues. It is area-based, using county-level estimates of average revenue and input costs to establish the amount of coverage and indemnity payments. It can be purchased by itself, or in conjunction with a Yield Protection or Revenue Protection policy purchased from the same Approved Insurance Provider that issued the Margin Protection policy. Margin Protection cannot be purchased with the Supplemental Coverage Option or the Enhanced Coverage Option.  It is available in select counties for rice (Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Texas), and wheat (Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota.) This will be available by June 30, 2023, and to be eligible for the 2024 crop year, interested producers will need to purchase their coverage by September 30, 2023.