The “Cover Crop Benchmarking to Manage Risk and Inform Crop
Insurance Decisions” project provided enhanced risk management education to
producers underserved by crop insurance. The major focus was to provide
comparative benchmark analysis to enhance education on new and current crop
insurance programs and integrating conservation practices into risk management
plans.
AgCentric, part of the Minnesota State Colleges and
Universities System, led the collaboration with MN Farm Business
Management (FBM), industry partners, and the RMA regional office. FBM delivered educational programming to Minnesota producers using comparative
analysis from cover crops enterprises, information about new crop insurance
programs with enhanced risk management for conservation practices (e.g. PACE),
and new research on risk reduction benefits of conservation practices. Findings were shared through: individualized instruction, 10 statewide annual FBM
analysis meetings, two training overview seminars, and multiple webinars. A state-wide cover crop report was published.
By sharing results on: costs and return data for cover crops, analysis of potential risks, access options for cover crop incentive programs, and evaluation risk
management strategies for cover crop practices; 32 producers better understood cover crop costs and benefits, and new crop insurance programs.
Over 680 producers were reached through 12 FBM-led education meetings/webinars held across the state, and the 32 cover crop students were educated on new and unique risk management insurance programs. Those 32 producers submitted whole farm, crop enterprise and cover crop enterprise data that was used to create the MN FBM Cover Crop Executive Summary report, and the final Cover Crop report in coordination with CFFM, EDF, SW FBM and Wisconsin Farm Management. A specific webinar on the crop insurance was not held, but educational materials were provided with follow-up from the project leadership.