Crop Insurance Loss Performance in Illinois and the Midwest

Since the inception of the modern crop insurance performance program, Illinois and the Midwest have had relatively low loss ratios compared to other areas of the country. This result holds even including the 2012 drought year in a relatively short history. Low loss rates in the Midwest and higher loss rates in other regions combine such that overall U.S. loss ratios are near 1.0. Still, disparities mean that farmers in the Midwest pay too much for crop insurance, while farmers in other regions pay too little.