Now that mid-winter is here, farmers need to make decisions on crop insurance for the year ahead. Our general bias is that insurance is an outstanding way to protect against disaster but, regardless of type of insurance, you still need to be a strategic and smart marketer. Use insurance as a springboard and guide to help you decide how much grain to comfortably forward contract or hedge.

Over the last four or five years, with the onset of newer insurance products, we have had concerns that producers, in some instances, have relied too heavily on their insurance as a marketing plan. Insurance is insurance. It protects you against disaster, but it does not and is not designed to market your grain. That is a separate operation that needs to be handled and conducted with professionalism, just as choosing the right insurance policy for your operation needs to be handled professionally.

Therefore, when dealing with your insurance agent, ask not only how different policies can protect you from disaster, but which ones can help to complement your marketing.

If you have questions or comments, please contact Top Farmer at 1-800-TOP-FARM, ext. 129.

Now that mid-winter is here, farmers need to make decisions on crop insurance for the year ahead. Our general bias is that insurance is an outstanding way to protect against disaster but, regardless of type of insurance, you still need to be a strategic and smart marketer. Use insurance as a springboard and guide to help you decide how much grain to comfortably forward contract or hedge.