{"id":3496,"date":"2012-11-05T14:57:52","date_gmt":"2012-11-05T19:57:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ncis.staging.wpengine.com\/?p=3496"},"modified":"2012-11-05T14:57:52","modified_gmt":"2012-11-05T19:57:52","slug":"crop-insurance-in-action-bob-and-mike-buntin-thompsonville-illinois","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iripreviewsite.com\/cropinsuranceinamerica\/crop-insurance-in-action-bob-and-mike-buntin-thompsonville-illinois\/","title":{"rendered":"CROP INSURANCE IN ACTION: Bob and Mike Buntin, Thompsonville, Illinois"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The choices Illinois farmers faced in the past when drought struck the Midwest were unpleasant all around. They could borrow money from family, drain their hard-earned savings or go under.<\/p>\n

In the last decade, crop insurance has made it possible for brothers Robert (Bob) and Michael Buntin, owners of Buntin Bros., Inc. in Thompsonville, to avoid any of that even as this summer\u2019s severe drought hit the state. For those without such a buffer, said Bob, 72, \u201cIt\u2019s like losing a job. You get by the best you can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thompsonville, with a population of nearly 600, is bordered on the south by Kentucky and on the east by Indiana.<\/p>\n

This past summer, the entire state of Illinois experienced varying degrees of drought \u2014 worsened by excessive heat \u2014 causing crops to shrivel and die from the blistering temperatures.<\/p>\n

The Buntins operate a 5,000-acre family farm, planted to corn, soybeans and wheat. This drought has been the worst since 1988, said Bob, and their yield this year is projected to be a little lower than ever before. From 147 bushels of corn per acre, 60 bushels of wheat and 45 bushels of soybeans, he sees production this year slowing to an average of 15 bushels each for soybeans and corn and \u201cabove average\u201d for wheat.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re tired of the dry weather,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is the worst this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

This year, the brothers wrote a crop insurance premium check for more than a $100,000; \u201cYou don\u2019t pay monthly like most insurance companies,\u201d said Bob. \u201cYou just write one check.\u201d<\/p>\n

And like a regular car insurance policy, they make sure they are covered for one year at a time. \u201cYou never know when your car is going to break down. You reapply every year so you can change your options.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bob says the process of purchasing crop insurance and filing for a claim is uncomplicated with very little paperwork. \u201cIf you keep your records straight, what kind of yield you get and report all these to government offices, it makes it easier,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to be all right this year,\u201d he noted. Such confidence comes from part wisdom, part history: A lower crop production traditionally results in higher prices. The Buntins are buoyed by current market prices at sky-high levels, which, Bob said, \u201cshould cover my losses this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

The brothers recalled past years when their farm faced weather-related crises. \u201cIt was dry here last year, dry here in 1983 and dry here in 1988, and you go back to the 1930s and the \u201850s.\u201d<\/p>\n

The U.S. has been experiencing extreme weather over the last few years, with 2012 now judged as the hottest year on record. The number of disasters that have run up costs into the billions of dollars have multiplied sharply since the beginning of the century.<\/p>\n

In 2011, the worst drought in a hundred years crippled Texas, the biggest producer of cotton in the U.S. The next year, the drought moved to the Heartland.<\/p>\n

But in addition to worrying about the weather, there are some ideas being floated in Congress that are causing some concerns as well. \u201cI don\u2019t think there should be a cap on insurance policy,\u201d Bob mused, arguing how a farmer with 500 acres or 5,000 acres should be allowed to take out a policy based on his own needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou got all the expenses; the big guy\u2019s got more expenses than the little guy, but he\u2019s got expenses, too,\u201d he said. For a farmer who is just getting started, the banks will strongly insist that he get insurance for his own protection \u201cat least to some degree.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEven the big, more established farms can\u2019t afford to take a hit three or four years in a row,\u201d said Bob, who has been farming since he was a young man in his teens. And the family tradition of farming will continue as one of Bob\u2019s sons two grandsons have joined him and their uncle in meeting the upcoming challenges to feed a hungry world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The choices Illinois farmers faced in the past when drought struck the Midwest were unpleasant all around. They could borrow money from family, drain their hard-earned savings or go under. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":3506,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,40,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-weather","category-whats-cropping-up"],"yoast_head":"\nCROP INSURANCE IN ACTION: Bob and Mike Buntin, Thompsonville, Illinois - Crop Insurance Keeps America Growing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/iripreviewsite.com\/cropinsuranceinamerica\/crop-insurance-in-action-bob-and-mike-buntin-thompsonville-illinois\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"CROP INSURANCE IN ACTION: Bob and Mike Buntin, Thompsonville, Illinois - Crop Insurance Keeps America Growing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The choices Illinois farmers faced in the past when drought struck the Midwest were unpleasant all around. 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