Crop Revenue Coverage on wheat paying out several hundred million dollars in PNW
Farm and Ranch November 23, 2009 Most northwest wheat growers carry federal crop insurance and about 80 percent of those that do carry Crop Revenue Coverage, CRC. That insures for both yield and price. Dave Paul of the regional office of USDA’s Risk Management Agency says the difference between the guaranteed price for wheat under CRC, $8.98, and the harvest price, $4.89, means a lot of farmers are getting checks for $4.09 a bushel.
Paul: “Obviously we are seeing a lot of claims. In fact virtually every producer who had a wheat CRC policy is going to collect an insurance indemnity. As of this last Monday, the 16th of November, we have paid out in the Pacific Northwest, or the insurance companies have paid out, right at 300-million dollars, which is a significant increase over previous indemnities in past years and there are still many claims out there that are still being worked so that number is going to continue rise.”
That 300-million dollars is about three-times payouts last year.
Paul says insurance companies have done a good job dealing with all the claims.
Paul: “I am actually pretty proud of the job the industry has done because to have 300-million of the books already is significant and I would estimate those numbers of course are going to continue to go up.”
Paul estimates perhaps about 20 to 25 percent of claims still have to be processed.
I’m Bob Hoff and that’s the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.
