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"Recent freezes have harmed wheat, causing some farmers to
consider destroying wheat and planting another crop," said Gary
Schnitkey. "For many farmers, planting another crop will have
crop insurance implications. Farmers need to contact their crop
insurance agents to discuss their specific situations."
Schnitkey has prepared a report,
"Crop Insurance Decisions Associated with Wheat Failure,"
available online at U of I Extension's Farmdoc site.
The report addresses three topics: implications when wheat
acres are not insured, implications when wheat acres are
insured, and considerations with Group Risk Plan and Group Risk
Income Plan policies.
If a farmer has not insured wheat acres, the wheat can be
destroyed and another crop planted, Schnitkey said.
"The following crop may be insured if the farmer has a policy
for the following crop and certain criteria are met," he said.
"For example, consider a farmer who signed up for a corn policy
by the March 15 deadline and the destroyed wheat acres will be
planted to corn. In this case, the acres will be insured as
corn.
"On the other hand, the acres will not be insured if the
farmer does not have a corn policy."
In the case of insured wheat acres, the farmer must contact
his or her crop insurance agent before destroying the wheat. The
agent will contact the crop insurance company, and the company
will assign an adjustor who will determine acres of loss.
"If wheat acres are going to be destroyed, it is possible
that representative strips will need to be left in the field --
except if the policy is GRP or GRIP. These representative strips
will be used to determine the wheat yield for calculating crop
insurance indemnities at a later date," Schnitkey said.
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 On destroyed acres, farmers have a choice concerning crop
insurance. The alternatives are:
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Elect not to
insure the succeeding crop. In this case, the farmer will
receive 100 percent of the payment for wheat and pay 100 percent
of the wheat premium.
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Elect to ensure
the second crop, given that the farmer has a policy for the
succeeding crop. Except for double-crop soybeans, the farmer
will receive 35 percent of the wheat insurance payment and pay
35 percent of the wheat premium. In addition, the farmer will
pay the premium on the succeeding crop. There are other
additional considerations addressed in the full report.
"The rules prevent a farmer from receiving 100 percent of crop
insurance payments for two crops in one year, except where
double-crop soybeans are prevalent," Schnitkey said. "If soybeans
are planted following the destroyed wheat, the farmer can receive
100 percent of payments for wheat and double-crop soybeans.
"Farmers with double-crop soybeans should work with their crop
insurance agents to determine eligibility for 100 percent payments."
Schnitkey's full report also addresses specific concerns
involving Group Risk Plan and Group Risk Income Plan policies.
[Text from file received from
the University of
Illinois Extension]
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