Wednesday, November 15, 2006 - 10:45 AM
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Corn and Soybean Defoliation – A Crop Insurance Perspective.

Mark Zarnstorff, National Crop Insurance Services, National Crop Insurance Services, 8900 Indian Creek Parkway Suite 600, Overland Park, KS 66210-1567

Farmers face many different perils in producing a crop.  These perils include drought, freeze, hail, disease, insects, wind, fire, and excess moisture. Hail insurance was developed in Europe in the late 1700’s to help alleviate the economic impacts of one of natures most devastating perils.  Hail insurance was first offered in the United States to producers of tobacco in 1880.  Multiple peril crop insurance was first developed by the US Congress in 1938.  In 2005, the crop insurance industry wrote over 4.3 billion dollars in premium providing coverage of 59 billion dollars for the US crop sector.  Development of scientifically based loss adjustment procedures is a vital aspect of the crop insurance program in the US.  Defoliation research was first performed on corn in 1928 and soybeans in 1943.  This research continues to the present day and is used to determine the influence of new production practices, hybrids, and new technologies on the recovery of these crops to defoliation and other perils.