Wheat Specific Information
Wheat Crop Insurance for Eastern Arkansas and Western Mississippi
Protection From Fall Planting Through Summer Harvest
Wheat faces a different risk cycle than spring-planted row crops. The crop is normally planted in the fall, remains in the field through winter, and must survive changing conditions before harvest the following summer.
Wet fall weather can delay planting. Winter injury, excessive moisture, disease, storms, and harvest-time quality problems can reduce production. Wheat prices can also change significantly between planting and harvest.
Wheat crop insurance helps protect against these risks while supporting a crop that often plays an important role in a Delta rotation or double-crop system.
Risks Facing Delta Wheat Producers
Depending on the circumstances and policy provisions, insured causes of loss may include:
Excessive rainfall and flooding
Drought
Winter injury or freeze
Hail, wind, and damaging storms
Fire
Wildlife damage
Insects and plant disease when proper control measures were used
Failure of the irrigation water supply caused by an insured event
Covered quality losses
A change in the harvest price under Revenue Protection
Insurance applies to unavoidable losses caused by insured events. Poor management, preventable disease, improper chemical applications, or failure to follow recognized good farming practices generally are not covered.
What Wheat Is Insurable?
Wheat is generally insurable when:
You have an ownership share in the crop
Premium rates are available for the county
The wheat is planted for harvest as grain
The acreage meets the applicable planting and practice requirements
The crop is not interplanted with another crop or planted into an established grass or legume unless specifically allowed
Wheat intended only for grazing, hay, or cover may not qualify under the standard grain policy.
When wheat will be grazed before grain harvest, the plan should be discussed with us before planting. In some counties, a Dual Use option may permit qualifying acreage to have annual-forage grazing coverage while retaining small-grains coverage for the later grain harvest.
Revenue Protection for Wheat
Revenue Protection protects against reduced insured revenue caused by:
Lower wheat production
A decline in the harvest price
A combination of yield and price loss
Your approved yield is multiplied by your coverage level to establish a production guarantee. That guarantee is valued using the projected price.
Under standard RP, the guarantee may increase if the harvest price is higher than the projected price. This can be important when wheat has been contracted or when lost production must be replaced at a higher price.
Yield Protection for Wheat
Yield Protection covers a physical production loss caused by an insured event.
If production to count falls below the guaranteed bushels, the shortage is valued using the projected price. A decline in the harvest price by itself does not create a Yield Protection payment.
Revenue Protection with Harvest Price Exclusion
Revenue Protection with Harvest Price Exclusion provides revenue coverage but does not allow the guarantee to increase when the harvest price is higher than the projected price.
It may cost less than standard RP, but it provides less protection when wheat production is short and prices rise.
Wheat Loss Example
Assume the following Revenue Protection coverage:
Approved yield: 70 bushels per acre
Coverage level: 75%
Production guarantee: 52.5 bushels per acre
Projected price: $7.00 per bushel
Harvest price: $6.20 per bushel
Actual production: 45 bushels per acre
Insured share: 100%
Revenue guarantee
52.5 guaranteed bushels × $7.00 projected price = $367.50 per acre
Value of production
45 actual bushels × $6.20 harvest price = $279 per acre
Estimated indemnity
$367.50 guarantee − $279.00 production value = $88.50 per acre
For a 100-acre unit:
100 acres × $88.50 = $8,850
Under Yield Protection, the same production loss would be:
52.5 guaranteed bushels − 45 actual bushels = 7.5-bushel shortage
7.5 bushels × $7.00 projected price = $52.50 per acre
This is a simplified example. Actual claims can be affected by unit structure, share, quality adjustments, appraisals, uninsured causes, and production records.
Wheat Quality Adjustments
Harvest-time weather can affect wheat even when much of the crop remains in the field.
Mature wheat may qualify for moisture or quality adjustment when an insured cause results in qualifying deficiencies. These may include:
Low test weight
Excessive damaged kernels
Shrunken or broken kernels
Certain grain defects
Musty, sour, or objectionable odors
Garlicky, smutty, or ergoty grades
Mycotoxins or other substances harmful to human or animal health
Wheat generally must fall below the policy’s specified grade requirements before quality adjustment applies.
The damage must result from an insured cause, and approved sampling and grading requirements must be followed. Ordinary discounts or a lower local cash bid do not automatically create a quality adjustment.
Contact us before selling, blending, feeding, moving, or destroying wheat with a suspected quality problem.
Prevented Planting for Wheat
Prevented planting coverage may apply when an insured cause—such as widespread excessive fall moisture—keeps eligible acreage from being planted by the final planting date.
The acreage must meet the policy’s history and eligibility requirements, and the cause must generally affect the surrounding area.
The producer may need to decide whether to:
Plant during an applicable late planting period
Leave the acreage unplanted
Plant another crop
Claim prevented planting
Change the intended crop rotation
Planting another crop can affect the prevented planting payment and coverage on the second crop. Contact us before making that decision.
Replanting Winter Wheat
The policy may require damaged wheat to be replanted when producers in the area would normally no longer care for the original stand and replanting remains practical.
However, Arkansas and Mississippi primarily insure winter wheat. When a county’s Special Provisions offer only a winter type, no replant payment is made on acreage initially planted to winter wheat.
Do not destroy or replant damaged wheat before contacting us. The insurance company may need to determine whether replanting is practical and whether an appraisal or inspection is required.
Wheat Followed by Soybeans
Wheat is often part of a double-crop system with soybeans. Insurance on the following soybean crop depends on county availability and whether the acreage qualifies for the Following Another Crop practice.
Important considerations include:
The producer’s double-cropping history
Wheat harvest and soybean planting dates
The soybean final planting date
FAC availability in the county
First- and second-crop insurance rules
Prevented planting decisions
Separate wheat and soybean production records
A wheat claim does not automatically prevent insurance on the following soybeans, but the facts and timing matter. Review the intended sequence with us before destroying wheat or planting the second crop.
ECO and SCO for Wheat
Where available, ECO and SCO can add county-based protection above the underlying wheat policy.
ECO can cover a band from a 90% or 95% trigger down to 86%. SCO generally provides coverage from 86% down to the underlying policy’s coverage level.
These products are based on county results rather than the loss on one farm. Payments may not be calculated until final county yields and revenues are released after harvest.
SCO eligibility can be affected by ARC elections. ECO eligibility is not affected by ARC.
Unit Structure Matters
Wheat claims are calculated by insured unit. Stronger production can offset weaker production when the acreage is combined within the same unit.
Depending on eligibility, unit choices may include basic, optional, enterprise, or multi-county enterprise units.
The best choice depends on:
Farm locations
Ownership and rental arrangements
Production variability
Irrigated and non-irrigated practices
Available premium savings
The ability to keep production records separate
Important Wheat Insurance Dates
For winter wheat in Arkansas and Mississippi, the sales closing and cancellation date is generally September 30.
Final planting dates, late planting periods, acreage reporting dates, and production reporting deadlines vary by county and crop year.
The regular calendar date for the end of the wheat insurance period in Arkansas and Mississippi is generally July 31, although coverage can end earlier due to harvest, abandonment, destruction, or another event identified in the policy.
Protecting Your Wheat Claim
Maintain:
Settlement sheets and scale tickets
Yield-monitor and grain-cart records
Bin measurements
Field and unit identification
Quality grades and laboratory reports
Records separating wheat production by insured unit
Documentation supporting the following soybean crop
Do not destroy, graze out, abandon, or put damaged wheat acreage to another use without first receiving instructions.
Build a Wheat Policy Around Your Rotation
The right wheat policy depends on your approved yield, planting plans, double-crop intentions, unit structure, marketing plan, and financial exposure.
Delta Crop Insurance can help compare Revenue Protection, Yield Protection, ECO, SCO, prevented planting, unit choices, and the insurance implications of soybeans planted behind wheat.
Call Delta Crop Insurance at 870-376-0781 or visit DeltaCropInsurance.com to schedule a wheat coverage review.
Coverage, availability, deadlines, premiums, and policy terms vary by county and crop year. This page provides general information and does not replace the applicable policy, endorsements, actuarial documents, Special Provisions, or approved insurance-provider determinations.
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