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Purdue ag economists discuss late planting decisions

The Federal Crop Insurance deadline for corn has passed in Indiana, but two Purdue University ag economists say farmers still have options. The cut-off date was June 5.

Jim Mintert says farmers need to make late planting decisions soon.

“Your options are to take prevented planting under Federal Crop Insurance, number two you can plant corn late, and number three you could simply switch your acreage that was originally intended for corn to soybeans,” he says.

Mintert and Michael Langemeier looked at potential returns from taking the prevented planting option and compared it to potential returns from delayed planting of both corn and soybeans.

“Prevented planting looks pretty attractive and so one of the challenges we face is how many acres are actually going to wind up enrolled in the prevented planting and what is the impact going to have on corn prices,” he says.

Mintert says other considerations are that the USDA will only provide MFP payments to farmers who plant, and the disaster bill includes provisions for prevented planting.

He says many in the ag industry are anxiously awaiting the USDA’s upcoming crop progress report.

Click here for more information and a new video on late planting decisions by the Purdue University Center for Commercial Agriculture.