Illinois Farmland Values in Context
Each year, the Illinois Society of Professional Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers collects representative sales data from all across the state of Illinois, divided into 10 regions based on prominent…
Weekly Farm Economics
Cash Rents on Professionally Managed Farmland in 2018 and 2019
The Illinois Society of Professional Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers recently released their estimates of 2018 cash rents as well as their expectations for 2019 cash rents. Cash rent levels…
Crop Insurance Decisions for 2018
The price discovery period used to determine projected prices and volatility factors for federally sponsored corn and soybean crop insurance products for 2018 is completed. For the majority of the…
Implied Probabilities for Corn and Soybeans Prices in 2018
As crop insurance and crop planting decisions are being made for the 2018 crop year, it is useful to assess possible springtime and harvest pricing information, and understand the impact…
Updated Farmland Values and Indexing Tools – 2017
Each year, the USDA provides extensive data related to farmland values, rental rates, and other indicators of economic performance by county, state, type of agriculture and other meaningful categorizations of…
Crop Insurance Decisions for 2017
The price discovery period used to determined projected prices and volatility factors for federally sponsored corn and soybean crop insurance products for 2017 is nearly completed. For the majority of…
Implied Probabilities for Corn and Soybeans Prices in 2017
As crop insurance and crop planting decisions are being made for the 2017 crop year, it is useful to assess possible indemnity, marketing, and harvest price information. Average futures settlement…
Weekly Farm Economics
Crop Insurance Premiums for 2017
Many producers are seriously evaluating their crop insurance budgets and coverage options in light of changing prices and premiums. Crop insurance premiums are determined each year based largely on several…
Implied Probabilities for Corn and Soybeans Prices for 2016
The purpose of this post is to introduce a new tool available at the farmdoc crop insurance evaluation site that helps to understand the market's implied price distribution at any…
Weekly Farm Economics
Crop Insurance Decisions for 2016
The Risk Management Agency (RMA) has now concluded its price discovery period used to determined final prices and volatility factors for federally sponsored corn and soybean crop insurance products for…
Weekly Farm Economics
Release of iFarm Premium Calculator and iFarm Payment Evaluator
Two new web-based decision tools are now available in the crop insurance section of farmdoc. The ifarm Premium Calculator provides farmer-paid premiums for insurance products on a per acre basis.…
Components of Cropland Value in the Cornbelt
Farmland markets have received a great deal of attention as farm income has come under pressure due to lower and more volatile commodity prices, and as recent actions by the…
Weekly Farm Economics
2016 Farmland Price Outlook
Farmland prices in Illinois decreased modestly during the first half of 2015, and it appears that downward pressures are likely to continue into 2016. While headwinds related to farm income…
Updated Expected Price Distributions for Corn and Soybeans in 2015
At the end of February, RMA established Projected Prices for crop insurance contract for corn of $4.15 and for soybeans of $9.73 for insured production in 2015. The Projected Prices…
Weekly Farm Economics
Crop Insurance Decisions for 2015
The Risk Management Agency (RMA) has now concluded its price discovery period used to determined final prices and volatility factors for federally sponsored corn and soybean crop insurance products for…
Understanding the Implied Volatility (IV) Factor in Crop Insurance
Each year, RMA resets the Projected Prices (PP) and Implied Volatility Factors (IV) that are used in the determination of crop insurance guarantee levels and premium costs. For much of…
Weekly Farm Economics
Yield Exclusion: Description and Guidance
The Yield Exclusion (YE) allows specific years to be dropped from the calculation of guarantee yields for crop insurance. This option is available because of provisions contained in the 2014…
IFES 2014: Do Risk Management Decisions Change?
The 2014 Farm Bill gives farmers the opportunity to enroll farms in commodity programs that have a "risk management" emphasis. Given this emphasis, should farmers alter other risk management such…
A Closer Look at the Impacts of Olympic Averaging of Prices and Yields
Several provisions of the 2014 Farm Bill depend critically on revenue thresholds calculated from the product of the Olympic average of 5-year trailing national marketing year average prices, and the…
Evaluating the Actual Production History Yield Exclusion Provision of the 2014 Farm Bill
A recent hearing before the House Agriculture Committee and subsequent press reports have raised the profile of a crop insurance provision in the 2014 Farm Bill. That provision requires USDA…
Weekly Farm Economics
Farmland Price Outlook in 2014 and Beyond
Recent commodity price declines have led to increasing concerns that farmland prices could decline as a result of potential decreases in income to farmland. Corn prices, for example, have decreased…
Updated Farmland Values and Returns Tools – 2014
Each year, the USDA provides extensive data related to farmland values, rental rates, and other indicators of economic performance by county, state, type of agriculture and other meaningful categorizations of…
Updated Expected Price Distributions for Corn and Soybeans in 2014
Crop price expectations have generally trended downward throughout the growing season as conditions have been very favorable for large production of corn and soybeans. Futures price expectations and eventual realizations…
Farmland Markets – Comparing the 1980s and the Present
There has been a recent increase in the number of inquiries received asking about the current farmland market, and potential parallels to the early 1980s; and about precursor indicators of…
Weekly Farm Economics
Coverage Levels on Crop Insurance and the SCO Alternative
Over time, crop insurance coverage levels chosen by farmers have increased, and there are regional patterns in coverage elections. Coverage level choices tend to be highest for corn and soybeans…