Out in the Field

A newsletter for 1st Farm Credit Services crop insurance clients

Acreage Report Contest

1st FCS insurance acreage report worksheets will be mailed out to you in May. Once again, we are giving our policyholders an added incentive to get their reports back to us early. If we receive your acreage report by July 1, we will include your name in a drawing for the following:

One Grand Prize - $250.00 gift certificate from your local Farm and Fleet store (Farm and Home in Quincy, Farm King in Macomb).

23 First Prizes (1 for each 1st Farm Credit Office) - $25.00 gift certificate from your local Farm and Fleet store (Farm and Home in Quincy, Farm King in Macomb).

It is important that you include your 2002 578s and aerial maps from the FSA to help us ensure that your acreage report matches. Those items will also help us expedite a claim in the fall.

Final Plant Dates

Each crop you plant has a final plant date. The final plant date is the last day on which you may plant and expect the insurance company to accept full liability for a loss. These dates are crop and county specific.

If you plant corn or soybeans after the final plant date, you fall into what is called the "late planting period." This period allows you to plant the insured crop up to 25 days after the final plant date, but with a reduction in guarantee. The production guarantee is reduced 1% for each day planted after the final plant date (up to a maximum of 25 days).

For most counties in Central Illinois, the final plant date for corn is June 5 and for soybeans it is June 20.

For most counties in Northern Illinois, the final plant date for corn is June 5 and for soybeans it is June 15.

Please check with your crop insurance specialist for your county’s specific dates on corn and soybeans as well as the dates for any specialty crops that you may have insured.

Replant Rules

If you plan to replant at least 20 acres or 20% of the insured acres in a given unit, you will qualify for replant coverage.

Please contact your crop insurance specialist or insurance CSR before you replant so we can provide you with further instructions and file your claim.

Remember, you may qualify for a "self-cert" replant claim if you replant 50 acres or less in a given unit. "Self-Certify" replants do not require a crop inspection.

Preventative Planting

Preventative Planting (PP) is defined as the failure to plant the insured crop with the proper equipment by the final planting date designated in the special provisions or by the end of the late period. You must have been prevented from planting the insured crop due to an insurable cause of loss that also prevented producers from planting on acreage with similar characteristics in the surrounding area. The most common cause for Prevented Planting in our area is excess moisture.

Insurance Team

Kathy Mintus

Insurance CSR

Bloomington Processing Office

800-598-3276

kmintus@farmcredit.com

In order to qualify for PP, the land must meet the 20/20 rule (20 acres or 20% of the unit, whichever is less). If you have questions about PP, contact your insurance specialist prior to the final planting dates for corn and soybeans.

Added Land Procedures

This is just a reminder that added land procedures can be rather complex. If you are adding land for this crop year, please contact your insurance specialist to understand your options.

Spouse Social Security Numbers

This is another reminder that the Risk Management Agency is requesting that agents obtain social security numbers for spouses on all policies in 2002. If you have not yet provided that information, your insurance specialist or insurance CSR will be asking you for it this spring.

Risk Management Tool

Multi-Peril Crop Insurance is a good start to protecting your profits, but these policies do not protect the upper portion of your crop production, especially in a hailstorm. The fact is, most specific crop hail or name-peril losses are 20% or less. Rarely will that amount trigger a MPCI claim.

Therefore, as hail season approaches, you may want to add one more tool to your risk management plan – Hail Insurance. 1st Farm Credit Services and your crop insurance specialists write policies for the leading crop hail insurers in the industry. The rates are extremely competitive and the service you will receive is second to none.

Wind Coverage for corn is a popular endorsement to your hail policy. This coverage typically covers "green snap" and will have a definite date, or stage of development, at which coverage attaches and expires.

There are many other endorsements available, including stored grain, transit coverage, replant options, etc. You may also choose a deductible or a companion policy.

Call your 1st Farm Credit Services office or your insurance specialist to purchase a hail policy tailored to fit your risk management needs.

New Crop Insurance Processing Office

We are pleased to announce the addition of a new crop insurance processing office in Oregon, Illinois. Mary Tipton and Rita Carter have joined the crop insurance team as Insurance CSRs in this office. Mary was the administrative assistant at Rochelle Crop Insurance Inc. in Stillman Valley and Rita was a CSR in the Freeport branch office. The address for the crop insurance office in Oregon is P.O. Box 359, Oregon, IL 61061. The phone number is 815-732-4908 or toll free at 800-631-6162.

New Insurance Specialist

We are also pleased to announce another addition from Rochelle Crop Insurance Inc. Marvin Romanski has agreed to work for 1st Farm Credit Services as an insurance specialist. Marv has vast experience as both a crop insurance adjuster and agent. He is working out of our Sycamore branch office.

In Case You Have A Hail Loss

If you think you may have a loss on your crop hail policy:

•Contact your insurance specialist or call their insurance CSR without delay with the date of the loss, crop location, your phone number and best time to reach you.

•An adjuster will contact you.

•If hail damage occurs and a replant is desired, indicate that you wish to replant at the time you report the loss.

•If hail damage occurs when crops are ready to harvest, do not delay harvest, but submit a loss immediately. You will be instructed to leave representative strips.