With Sales Closing Dates Looming, Supplemental Crop Insurance Decisions Are Upon Us

Crop insurance sales closing dates for the 2025 crop year are fast approaching for much of the country.  On top of multi-peril crop insurance (MPCI) decisions, producers have supplemental policies to consider such as the Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) and the Stacked Income Protection Plan for upland cotton (STAX).  STAX and SCO are area-wide crop insurance tools that serve as complements to underlying MPCI policies but have implications for other safety net programs: Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC).  Enrollment of seed cotton base acres on a farm in ARC or PLC makes the farm ineligible for STAX.  Enrollment in SCO makes a producer ineligible for ARC.  Therefore, producers have the following options:

• Purchase STAX (upland cotton only), with or without a companion policy;
• Purchase SCO, with an underlying policy, and enroll base acres in PLC;
• Enroll base acres in ARC only;
• Enroll base acres in PLC only. 

Producers must consider these options carefully, as risk management decisions may significantly impact a farm’s bottom line.  A July 2024 Southern Ag Today article by Stiles and Biram took a closer look at the case of STAX for upland cotton.  They illustrated that STAX generally provides more protection against an area yield loss or a revenue loss due to both area yield and price effects rather than a price decline alone.  Both STAX and SCO indemnities are triggered by loss in area revenue (or a loss in area yield for SCO if the underlying MPCI policy is a yield protection policy).  Findings highlighted in this article along with other available research may help guide producers as they decide if they prefer more protection against price loss, yield loss, or revenue loss.  Producers should always evaluate their individual situations and consult their crop insurance agent or other trusted professionals to ensure they are fully informed of all available policies and products.

The following tables highlight sales closing dates and provide the current RMA projected prices (used for STAX for upland cotton and SCO for other commodities) from each price discovery period across Southern states for cotton, corn, soybeans, and grain sorghum.  The tables also include effective reference prices and the most recent marketing year average (MYA) price projections provided by FAPRI for use in the AFPC online ARC-CO/PLC Decision Aid.  These MYA prices are components in both ARC and PLC payment calculations.

Table 1. Cotton – Sales Closing Dates and 2025 Projected Prices

Table 2. Corn – Sales Closing Dates and 2025 Projected Prices

Table 3. Soybeans – Sales Closing Dates and 2025 Projected Prices

Table 4. Grain Sorghum – Sales Closing Dates and 2025 Projected Prices

Nelson, Henry, Natalie Graff, and J. Marc Raulston. “With Sales Closing Dates Looming, Supplemental Crop Insurance Decisions Are Upon Us.” Southern Ag Today 5(9.4). February 27, 2025. Permalink