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Crop insurance: important dates, resources and tax impacts

Crop insurance and tax considerations for when extreme weather impacts your crops

Heavy rain can delay or prevent planting or drown out already planted crops in farm fields. 

USDA's Risk Management Agency (RMA) defines prevented planting as "a failure to plant an insured crop with the proper equipment by the final planting date designated in the insurance policy's actuarial documents or during the late planting period, if applicable, due to an insured cause of loss that is general to the surrounding area and that prevents other producers from planting acreage with similar characteristics."

If farmers have federal crop insurance and have not been able to plant by a given crop's final planting date or have drowned out areas in fields, they do have options.

Planting dates

  • For most of Minnesota, the final planting date for corn is May 31. For northern counties, it is May 25.
  • The final planting date for soybeans in Minnesota is June 10.
  • The late planting period extends for 25 days after the crop's final planting date.

There are earlier dates for northern Minnesota counties:

  • Final planting date for corn is May 25. 
  • Final planting date for soybeans is June 10.
  • The late planting period runs from May 26 to June 19 for corn and June 11 to July 5 for soybeans.
  • Northern counties include Aitkin, Beltrami, Carlton, Cass, Clearwater, Hubbard, Itasca, Kittson, Koochiching, Lake of the Woods, Mahnomen, Marshall, Norman, Pennington, Polk, Red Lake, Roseau and St. Louis.

Additional RMA information on final planting dates for specific crops throughout Minnesota and other crop insurance information can be found on the USDA Risk Management Agency website.

Eligibility

Eligibility for a prevented planting payment is determined on a case-by-case basis. An insured cause of loss must have occurred within the insurance period on eligible acreage. To be eligible, acreage must be normally physically available for planting, must have been planted in at least 1 of the 4 most recent years, and must meet all other applicable policy provisions.

In order to be eligible for a prevented planting payment, the area that was prevented from being planted must be at least the lesser of 20 acres or 20% of the insurable crop acres in the unit. The acreage that was prevented from being planted does not need to be contiguous.

The prevented planting guarantee for soybeans is 60% and for corn is 55% of the production guarantee for timely planted acreage (higher payment guarantees are available if purchased by sales closing date, subject to certain provisions). You can find more information on the RMA website.

For both yield and revenue protection, prevented planting payments are based upon projected price. There is no prevented planting coverage for Group Risk Plan, Group Risk Income Protection, or for policies insured at the Catastrophic Risk Protection coverage level.

Notice of prevented planting

Farmers are required to provide a notice that they are prevented from planting an insured crop. The notice has to be given within 72 hours:

  1. After the final planting date, if you do not intend to plant the insured crop during the late planting period or if a late planting period is not available; OR
  2. During the late planting period if you determine that you will not be able to plant the insured crop.
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This article is offered as educational information only and is not intended to be tax, legal or financial advice. For questions specific to your farm business or individual situation, consult with your crop insurance agent and tax preparer.

Authors: David Bau and Rob Holcomb, Extension educators; Robert Craven and Kent D. Olson, Extension economists

Reviewed in 2022

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