Crop insurance updates for 2025

In a tough farm economy like this one, having the right crop insurance coverage to protect your farming operation and manage your risk is even more important.

Luckily, higher levels of crop insurance have never been more affordable. Enhanced Coverage Option, or ECO — the county-based coverage option that gives growers up to 95% coverage — has recently seen a subsidy increase from 44% up to 65%.

For Livingston County corn, in central Illinois, this takes 95% ECO premium from $29.15 last year down to $18.22 this year, a 37% premium decrease. This makes 95% coverage more accessible to farmers than ever before.

ECO claims are released in June the following crop year after all production is reported.

There are also many private “ECO Offset” programs that allow producers to take an individual unit band of coverage alongside their ECO coverage.

Many of these products offer optional unit coverage for the producer — where every database on their policy stands on its own.

Therefore, these products can offer the grower the higher of the 95% ECO county claim or the 95% individual, optional unit claim.

These offset products are incredibly lucrative, and with the price of ECO decreasing, this strategy is often the cheapest way to get 95% individual coverage. In addition, these offset products offer growers a bankable 95% guarantee.

Unlike ECO, where producers and bankers know do not know final indemnity amount until June the following crop year, these ECO offset product claims are worked at harvest time.

Since the grower gets the higher of their individual claim or the county claim, growers and bankers would at the very least know the individual claim owed.

So, even though indemnities for both ECO and the offset product do not get paid until June, growers with offset products will have a clearer view of indemnities to come — a true benefit both to the producer and their banker.

New Warranty Program

Looking for a totally different way to protect against a shallow yield loss this year? There is a new warranty program available through AcreShield that is designed to protect against shallow losses — offering protection from 100% to 85% of the producer’s approved, trend-adjusted actual production history, or APH.

This means that if a producer’s average APH is 220, and if their average harvest yield is anywhere between 220 and 187, the grower would receive a payment.

For context, if this same producer took 85% revenue protection, or RP, and the harvest price was the same or higher than the spring price, they would not begin to receive an indemnity until their harvest yield was below 187. The program begins to pay if a producer is 1 bushel below their APH, paying up to $100 per acre.

Corn and soybeans have the same rate in all counties in the country — $20 cost for $100 potential payment, a 5:1 ratio — and all corn and beans in the county must be insured.

Private Products

Crop insurance is often seen as the same, regardless of what agency you write with. However, while federally offered crop insurance must be offered at the same rate, there are significant differences in premiums for private products.

For example, many companies offer a version of an “ECO Offset” program, but the premium and program rules can vary wildly by company. Wind, hail and replant rates are also highly variable based on the insurance provider.

At Strategic Farm Marketing, we work with eight different insurance companies, allowing us to always find you the best rate. This has the potential to save you thousands of dollars.

There are many exciting, new risk management strategies available for the 2025 crop year.

For more information, consider attending one of our risk management seminars. See our list of meetings at sfarmmarketing.com.

Katie Voinorovich is a crop insurance agent and data analyst at Strategic Farm Marketing & Crop Insurance.