Crop Insurance Today First Quarter 2020 - 13

Almost 150 Product Introductions Since 2010

(NOTE: includes livestock; does not include new options or new types/practices)

Count of Added Crop Programs (Crop/Plan)

140
120
100
80
60

40

20
0

2010	2011	2012	 2013	2014	2015	2016	 2017	2018	2019
Crop Year

Source: RMA Summary of Business as of 12/16/2019

ability) has remained steady since 2013. The reason for the declines in premium can be attributed
to positive industry results, and its competitive
environment.
Manitoba's decade results tally up to a 76 percent loss ratio on over $460 million in premium.
Saskatchewan, Canada's largest agricultural land
area returned a 62 percent loss ratio on over $1.7
billion in premium. Alberta's decade in review
returned a 77 percent loss ratio on $798 million.

Developments in Federal
Crop Insurance

The decade started with a renegotiated
2011 Standard Reinsurance Agreement (SRA),
estimated by the Risk Management Agency
(RMA) to reduce program funding by $6 billion over 10 years and included a controversial provision for capping Administrative and
Operating (A&O) expense reimbursements
and agent compensation. 2011 also marked
the introduction of the Common Crop Insurance Policy, combining the Actual Production
History (APH) yield plan for major row crops,
Crop Revenue Coverage, and Revenue Assurance into one policy umbrella. Late in 2011
RMA adopted a new premium rating method
starting with corn and soybeans, while discontinuing the Biotech Endorsement premi-

um discount for planting certain corn hybrids.
Beginning in 2012, corn and soybean producers had the use of the Trend-Adjusted Actual Production History Yield Endorsement to
increase yields for calculating crop insurance
guarantees, eventually expanding to many other
crops. USDA began efforts to align acreage reporting and other common dates between crop

Throughout the decade
there was a constant and
ongoing effort to expand
crop insurance programs,
with collaborative efforts by
the government and private
sector to introduce almost
150 new products, including
many new specialty crops,
tree programs, new revenue and margin approaches, and various targeted
endorsements or options, to
improve existing programs.

insurance and farm programs to reduce producer
data reporting burdens.
As a result of the industry and RMA's response to the 2012 drought, it is no wonder
that Congress cemented crop insurance as a key
component of the farm safety net with passage
of the Agricultural Act of 2014, also known as
the 2014 Farm Bill. Legislators strengthened
crop insurance by adding new products and
expanding coverage to previously underserved
crops and areas.
The Farm Bill passed with many new crop
insurance improvements including the supplemental area-based plans Stacked Income Protection Plan (STAX) for upland cotton, and
the Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) for
numerous other crops. Additionally, enterprise
unit discounts were made permanent, separate
enterprise units for irrigated and non-irrigated
acres were authorized along with separate coverage levels; and producers were given the option for an APH yield exclusion. Price elections
for organic crops were authorized to reflect the
actual retail or wholesale prices received by
producers, and Congress directed that any future SRA negotiations be budget neutral. Specialty crops were a key theme and coverage for
a new Whole-Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP)
plan of insurance was authorized along with
CROPINSURANCE TODAY®

13
Crop Insurance Today First Quarter 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crop Insurance Today First Quarter 2020
