Crop Insurance Indemnities Total $1.2 Billion for 2016 Crops

U.S. crop insurance indemnities are at $1.226 billion as of October 10 after having passed the $1 billion mark at the end of September, above where the totals for 2015 crops of $6.280 billion, according to data from USDA's Risk Management Agency (RMA).Payouts for wheat are leading all crops at this stage with indemnities of $361 million followed by corn at $273 million, soybeans at $96 million and cotton at $91 million. That's in stark contrast to the 2015 total season indemnities that were at $1.676 billion for corn, $1.219 billion for wheat, $1.155 billion for soybeans and $388 million for cotton.At this point in 2015, indemnities for 2015 crops stood at $2.53 billion, well ahead of the current indemnity level for 2016 crops. This also puts the loss ratio at a very low .13 for 2016 crops compared to .26 at this point for 2015 crops.The lower indemnity level for 2016 could be used by crop insurance backers during the debate on the next farm bill which is expected to focus on the program for potential budget savings.