Group crop insurance products may be more attractive than farm crop policies for some producers this year, says Gary Schnitkey, University of Illinois farm financial management specialist. That's because the Risk Management Agency has significantly increased the expected county yields used to calculate guarantees for Group Risk Plan (GRP) and Group Risk Income Plan (GRIP) in some states.

“Higher expected yields result in higher guarantees. Higher guarantees then increase chances of receiving insurance payments and increase the amount of payments when they occur,” Schnitkey explains.