The 2011 Crop Year is Off to a Challenging Start

The hopes of the largest and most profitable harvest in U.S. history are being placed into question by a series of historic weather events that are inflicting major damage to America’s agricultural heartland.

A cold spring followed by heavy, constant rain and flooding in the corn belt has resulted in extensive delays in plantings with only about 63 percent of the U.S. corn crop being planted to date – considerably less than the five year average of nearly 75 percent – according to the May 16th USDA Crop Progress report.

Illinois, the second largest corn producing state, is still lagging behind the national average with only 69 percent of the crop being planted, compared to the average of 74 percent over the last five years.

In other states, the news is much worse. In Minnesota, the fourth largest corn producing state, only 47 percent of the crop has been planted compared to the historic average for this date of 81 percent. Indiana, the fifth largest corn producing state only has 29 percent of its crop planted. Ohio, the seventh largest corn state is still in the single digits at seven percent compared the historical average of 70 percent and North Dakota finally broke into the teens at 14 percent.

The National Agricultural Statistics Service shows that more than half the winter wheat in Kansas – the nation’s largest wheat producer – is now rated in poor to very poor condition. Reports are even worse to the south, where 80 percent of the Oklahoma winter wheat crop and 75 percent of the Texas crop are in poor to very poor condition. Among the 18 major winter wheat-growing states overall, 44 percent of the crop is rated in poor to very poor condition.

The flooding that has swept through the Midwest and is moving south will result in further damage to this year’s crop.

Underpinning the vast majority of these crops is crop insurance, which according to estimates by National Crop Insurance Services (NCIS), would be written for at least $110 billion worth of crop insurance liability this year, the largest amount in U.S. history. Farmer participation in crop insurance continues at historically high levels. In fact, in 2010, nearly 80 percent of the U.S. crop – 256 million acres of farmland – were protected by crop insurance.

“The advantage of protecting our farmers with crop insurance is that when Mother Nature strikes as she is doing this year, it will be private industry working with USDA to ensure that we maintain financial stability for our agricultural production sector, ” said Tom Zacharias, NCIS president.

“The crop insurance industry is deeply concerned about the recent flooding situations and damage to this year’s crop. At this time, it is too early to tell how severe the damage will be, but in partnership with USDA, the industry stands ready to assist insured farmers in assessing the damage to their crops and farmland,” said Zacharias. “The federal crop insurance program is designed to provide protection for farmers affected by natural disasters, which unfortunately occur in the unpredictable and volatile business of agricultural production,” he added.