You guys don't get it..  My APH's are not significantly different then the County yields.. Last year I rasied 15 bu corn.. I harvested every acre.. probably 20% in the county was a goose egg.  So 60% of that IS NOT GOING TO HELP RAISE my average APH.. It's even worse out west.

The PREMIUMS exceed expected losses.. at this point.  On one farm.. my LL only has the single farm.. so he can not buy at the lower enterprise level.. so insurance is VERY EXPENSIVE under that scenerio.

when you can guarantee being in business another year by spending a few dollars an acre, why wouldn't you?  

You can NOT GUARANTEE being in business with CROP INSURANCE.. IT DOES NOT OFFER a sufficient SAFETY NET to cover COSTS!!

At 15 bu my BREAKEVEN is like.. $13.33  IF I BUY Crop Insurance it goes UP.. to $15.00.. If I have a normal irrigated yield.. I probably will not recieve ANY indemnity. 

lol..  It doesn't pay.  IF you are not going to collect a check THIS YEAR.. with a dollar plus lower revenue added.. THEN WHEN are you going to collect?  My dryland Corn APH's this year were 72 bu, my irrigated was 191.  I bought RA at 85%.. The initial price lock was $5.65 and we settled around $4.40 or $1.25'ish decline in the corn.  Of the three crops.. Wheat, Corn and Beans I had a claim on two of them.. including the substantial price decline on the corn..  My OVERALL net over PREMIUMS was $0.07 per bushel averaged across all three crops.


http://www.agmanager.info/crops/insurance/risk_mgt/rm_html13/AB_CropIns_TaxpayerCosts.asp


 "In most years, farmers write premium checks and do not collect an indemnity."


From this year's experience.. I don't see how crop insurance is going to pull it's weight in my operation... especially as the lower APH's work through my averages..  


edit add:  In short it is THESE HIGH PREMIUM costs that are DRIVING people to plant a DIFFERENT CROP..  I can't AFFORD to plant DRYLAND CORN and PAY THESE KINDS OF PREMIUMS... and that's the SAME CONCLUSION that others in my area are drawing also..  IT DOESN'T PAY!!  


70 bu x .85 = 59.5 bu..  $28 premium / 59.5 = $0.47/bu   $4.57 - .47 = $4.10 lock... which makes the breakeven around 50 bu.. on out of pocket and around 73 bu on Total.. There's NOTHING left..   That's WHY people are not walking but RUNNING away from corn...


"not doing that."     


At $7.50 corn.. breakevens were..  27 bu on variable and 40 on total.. a whole different animal..  We've DOUBLED the risks.. Again on average about every 5 years I AVERAGE OVER 100 bu corn.. so this is not some fly by night production area.. yes it is risky.. but not THAT out of the norm.


If the market is not going to pay for it.. the market is not going to get the bushels.. This is DIFFERENT then when we had Base Acres.. and we HAD to plant the crop to earn the subsidy.. there is NO Subsidy..