A crop insurance specialist with Farm Credit says utilizing risk management tools will be critical for farmers in 2024.
Tony Jesina says it won’t be business as usual when it comes to selecting Agriculture Risk (ARC) or Price Loss Coverage (PLC) this year. “Just because of the change in markets,” he says. “We see producers looking at a dollar less coverage on corn and even more than that on soybeans.”
He tells Brownfield farmers may need to stress test their risk management — and it starts with understanding their break-evens. “And is there a way to bundle or look at a package of solutions on your risk management side to protect that break even,” he says. “If not, you need to understand what your working capital is because that’s where that difference has got to come from.”
Jesina says farmers should also consider their marketing plan. “Do I plan on forward marketing this crop and taking advantage of rallies that may present themselves,” he says. “So you want to leverage your crop insurance policy so you can take advantage of those opportunities when they come up.”
The enrollment deadline for crop insurance is March 15th.
