As many of you have worked with us over the last several years, you may be aware of the 95% private products that are available to add on to your multiperil crop insurance coverage. In the past these have always been unsubsidized crop insurance products that were specific to carriers (i.e.: RAMP, RPP, ICE, etc.).
New for crop year 2021, there are subsidized 95% coverage options! Enhanced Coverage Option (ECO) is a subsidized county-based crop insurance plan that allows producers to increase their crop insurance coverage up to 90 or 95%. This program uses the same spring and fall prices as well as expected and final county yields as SCO, however it does not require the producer to have elected Price Loss Coverage (PLC) through the Farm Service Agency (FSA) office to qualify.
When we correlate our clients with the counties they farm in we are able to see that for the vast majority of operation, ECO provides an opportunity for farmers to get excellent coverage. Furthermore, the coverage provided is based on the operations Actual Production History (APH) and revenue guarantee even though the policy triggers a claim based on the county. This allows producers to be rewarded for having high APHs and consistent yields while still being able to participate in county level revenue and yield fluctuations.
ECO follows the same coverage as a producer’s underlying multiperil coverage. For example, if a farmer elects to take a 75% revenue protection then the ECO policy will also provide revenue protection for the farmer. Below is an example from RMA of how coverages for a producer stack up with one another.
Premiums for ECO are like other area plans at these levels. The current subsidy rate for yield protection plans are 51%, while the subsidy rate on a revenue protection plan is 44%.
If you elect MP, ARPI, or HIP-WI, you cannot have an ECO policy.
For more information, please fell free to contact The Accel Group and talk to one of our knowledgeable advisors. You can also check out our agribusiness insurance here.
Related blog post: https://acceladvantage.com/blog/conversation-with-agribusiness-solutions-advisor-mark-lenius/
Written by: Mark Lenius