Insurance against poor crop yields helps farmers stay afloat during bad weather years. But calculating your short yields can be tricky.

We can use some ”short-cut” math to arrive at a realistic number. Here's an example from the drought of 2012:

• Short bushels paid at the ”higher of” spring or fall price. (This is the ”short-cut” math part. It's really revenue guarantee recalculated.)
• Example: 185 APH x 85% = 157 bu guarantee
• You raised 100 bushels so you're short 57 bushels
• Example fall price (October 2012) $8.00
• 57 x $8.00 = $456 per acre
• Cap on fall prices = 200% of spring price
• $5.68 caps at $11.36
• $12.55 caps at $25.10

As always, check with your crop insurance professional before you do anything.

NEED TO KNOW!

1. Don't cut silage until you have contacted your crop insurance professional!
   An adjuster will come out and field-appraise your bushels and add them to your total yield or yield on that unit.
2. If you have any old grain in your bins, call your adjuster so he or she can come out and measure BEFORE HARVEST!
3. Notify your adjuster as soon as you think you may have a loss so your adjuster can file your claim right away.

For more crop insurance information, check out our crop insurance video here .