Federal crop insurance deadline is March 15
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Illinois farmers have until March 15 to sign up for federal crop insurance policies covering corn and soybeans. Significant changes have been made in the policies this year, according to COUNTRY Financial.
"Farmers now can choose coverage options within a Common Crop Insurance Policy. It replaces crop revenue coverage, revenue assurance and multi-peril crop insurance policies with Revenue Protection and Yield Protection policies," says Sheri Bane, director of commercial/agribusiness for COUNTRY.
Group Risk Plan (GRP), Group Risk Income Protection (GRIP) and Catastrophe (CAT) policies are available. Some farmers could qualify for enterprise unit coverage that insures all acres of an individual crop within a county.
Farmers can further reduce risk by developing a grain marketing plan. COUNTRY financial representatives can help farmers secure market analysis and grain contracts through AgriVisor LLC, a joint venture of Growmark Inc. and Illinois Farm Bureau.
"Our certified financial representatives are ready to help farmers choose the appropriate coverage for their individual operations. We've been insuring Illinois farmers for 85 years. We're going to make sure each farmer is properly covered under the new policy options," says Bane.
COUNTRY is among the leading federal crop insurers in Illinois. In addition to federal crop insurance, COUNTRY also offers crop hail insurance for hail, vandalism and fire damage to standing crops not covered by federal crop insurance. The GrainGuard® policy provides protection for harvested grain and offers additional replant coverage options.