Prevented Planting Questions and Answers
What is Prevented Planting?
Prevented planting (PP) is a failure to plant the insured crop with the proper equipment by the final planting date designated in the insurance policy’s Special Provisions or during the late planting period (LPP), if applicable. Prevent planting must be due to an insurable cause of loss general to the area that also prevents others in the area from planting.
The amount of prevented planting coverage is calculated as a percent of the insurance guarantee the insured would have had for a timely planted crop. For example, suppose a producer’s insurance guarantee is $100 an acre. If the producer insures a crop with a 60% prevented planting coverage factor, the prevented planting payment would be $60 (or 60% of the guarantee). The prevented planting factor varies by crop, based on an estimate of pre-planting costs.
Final planting dates, factors and late planting periods vary by crop and by area. Producers should refer to the policy provisions or contact their ProAg crop insurance agent for more information.
What are the basic requirements to qualify for a prevented planting indemnity?
- Sufficient crop acreage and the ability to show planting would have occurred in a normal year.
- 20 acres or 20% of the unit is prevented from planting.
- Any PP acreage within a field that contains planted acreage will be considered to be acreage of the same crop, type and practice that is planted in the field unless:
- The acreage that was prevented from being planted constitutes at least 20 acres or 20% of the total insurable acreage in the field and you produced both crops, crop types, or followed both practices in the same field in the same crop year within any one of the four most recent crop years.
- The acreage that was prevented from being planted constitutes at least 20 acres or 20% of the total insurable acreage in the field. You must also provide proof that you intended to plant another crop, crop type or follow both practices on the acreage (including but not limited to inputs purchased, applied or available to apply, or that the acreage was part of a crop rotation).
- Acreage must be timely and accurately reported on your acreage report by the acreage reporting deadline.
- A PP Notice of Loss must also be reported within 72 hours following the end of the late planting period or the final plant date if no LPP is applicable.
- Must meet rotational requirements (if applicable).
- Must be physically available for planting. Producers will still be required to prove the land was available for planting by showing it was planted and harvested (or adjusted for an insurable cause of loss) in one of the four previous crop years.
Have there been any changes to the Prevented Planting rules and regulations for 2026?
On November 28, 2026, the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) published a final rule including two main rules for prevented planting that were adjusted for 2026 and succeeding crop years including:
- Removes the “insured” requirement from the “1 in 4” rule for prevented planting payments, significantly reducing administrative burden on producers, agents, and insurance providers. Producers will still be required to prove the land was available for planting by showing it was planted and harvested (or adjusted for an insurable cause of loss) in one of the four previous crop years.
- Removes buy-up coverage for prevented planting in the crop insurance program.
Further changes to the crop insurance program for 2026 can be viewed here: PM-25-072: Expanding Access to Risk Protection (EARP) Final Rule Changes Effective for the 2026 and Succeeding Years
Prevented planting coverage factors are designed to provide protection based on pre-planting costs generally incurred up to the point of planting the crop. Fixed and variable costs, established from available national and state crop budgets, are compared to average insurance guarantees to establish prevented planting coverage factors.
These costs can include purchase of machinery, land rent, fertilizer, actions taken to ready the field, pesticide, labor, and repairs. The prevented planting factor is a percentage of the individual insurance guarantee and varies by crop, based on an estimate of pre-planting costs.
Producers should maintain all documentation regarding recommendations from agricultural experts (cover crop selection, seeding rate, etc.) For example, documentation could include published materials from agricultural experts that are applicable for the area or an individual assessment from an agricultural expert for a specific cover crop management practice. Producers must be able to provide such documentation to their crop insurance company upon request.
We encourage you to work with your agent in providing documentation. Approved Insurance Providers have access to data that can assist with verifying insurance history. There are other methods such as satellite imagery that may be beneficial when proving if a crop was planted and harvested.
You may be eligible for a 100% prevented planting payment on corn if 1) you have history of planting both crops in the field in the same year or 2) you can provide proof you intended to plant corn on the acreage (including, but not limited to inputs purchased, applied or available to apply, or that acreage was part of a crop rotation).
If you don’t meet either of these criteria for corn, you may still be eligible for a prevented planting payment on soybeans, if all other policy provisions are met.
Note: If the soybeans were planted after the late planting period for corn, the 20 planted acres would instead be considered a second crop of soybeans, and the first crop of corn would have its prevented planting payment reduced to 35%. The 20 unplanted acres of corn would receive the full prevented planting payment for corn.
You may hay, graze, or cut the cover crop for silage, haylage, or baleage and your prevented planting payment will not be affected. Corn planted on acreage following a prevented planting claim will be considered planted for harvest.
This term means if you had no reason to know or suspect at the time coverage began that the amount of irrigation water for the upcoming crop year may be limited or reduced. No reasonable expectation exists if you knew, or had reason to know, the amount of irrigation water may be reduced before coverage begins for the crop year.
Are there RMA resources available?
National Fact Sheet and Frequently Asked Questions
- First and Second Crop Rules (Jul 2021)
- Prevented Planting Insurance Provisions Drought (Jul 2021)
- Prevented Planting Insurance Provisions Flood (Jul 2021)
- FAQ – Prevented Planting Coverage (Nov 2025)
Pro Ag Management, Inc.* (collectively with its corporate affiliates, “ProAg®”) is a managing general agency representing several risk bearing insurance companies, including Producers Agriculture Insurance Company and U.S. Specialty Insurance Company and doing business as Pro Ag Insurance Services, Inc. in California, CA Entity License #0F34212. The insurance products described on this website may not be a complete list of all products offered and may not be offered in all states. The provided information does not amend, or otherwise affect, the terms and conditions of any insurance policy issued by ProAg or any of its subsidiaries; always refer to the policy provisions. Actual coverages will vary based on the terms and conditions of the policy issued.
