Crop Loss Pay Outs Hit All Time High

Losses paid out by crop insurance companies to farmers for 2011 crops have now exceeded $10.7 billion and are edging ever closer to the $11 billion mark, according to data from the Risk Management Agency (RMA). This surpasses the previous record of $8.76 billion set in 2008 by almost 25%.

The top crops damaged, by dollar value, were corn, cotton, wheat, soybeans grain sorghum, pastureland and rangeland, and tobacco. And while the average loss ratio across the country is at .90 — which means that for every dollar purchased in coverage, 90 cents was paid out in indemnities — those numbers are much higher in some key states.

Top among them is Vermont, which felt the brunt of Hurricane Irene’s wrath last summer and is currently at a loss ration of 2.59. Texas and Oklahoma are not far behind, having fallen victims to an historic and prolonged drought, registering a 2.35, and 2.15 respectively.