July 17 Agent Update
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act: How Will it Affect Crop Insurance?
The budget reconciliation bill known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act – long a subject of debate across the country – has finally become law. The Act will have a significant impact on American agriculture and the crop insurance industry, and has sparked a flurry of discussion among AIPs, agents and policyholders.
Ultimately, due to strong bipartisan support for the crop insurance program, the bill will strengthen the entire industry: increased availability and affordability mean that growers will be able to purchase more risk management products than ever before. While not all the Act’s effects are fully understood, and we are awaiting clarification from the Risk Management Agency on multiple topics, AgriSompo is confident that our agents and policyholders will see bottom-line growth under the Act.
Some highlights from the Act include:
- Premium assistance for individual policies has increased by three percentage points for policies with a coverage level of 80% to 85%, and five percentage points for those with a coverage level below 76%.
- The Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) now has an increased maximum coverage level of 90% and an increased premium discount of 80%.
- Whole Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP) has an increased maximum coverage level of 90%.
- Beginning Farmer and Rancher benefits have been extended from five years to ten years.
Despite the great impact on the program, the Act does not eliminate the need for a new farm bill. With a number of critical programs set to expire, Congress now looks to pass either a “skinny” farm bill or another farm bill extension.
What's Next?
Our AgriSompo partners can rest assured that we will navigate the Act’s changes in a timely and accurate manner. As a fully committed nationwide writer and partner to both agents and producers, AgriSompo is a highly stable, secure and well-capitalized organization, focused on a long future of availability, sustainability and operational excellence.
AgriSompo’s momentum has been steadily growing in the half-decade since our founding, and is at its peak in 2025. We have the regionally focused teams and adjusting resources in place to facilitate fast service for our agents and policyholders, and are more than prepared for the increased business brought about by the Act.
With your support, we are proud to be a true competitive force in the U.S. crop insurance landscape, with one of the largest and most diversified books of business in the industry. Our nationwide spread of risk can easily weather the inevitable highs and lows of agriculture, allowing AgriSompo agents to enjoy peace of mind and a reliable foundation on which to build their legacies – a foundation unaffected by uncertainty and change.
We thank you for your continued partnership and look forward to the future with confidence and enthusiasm.
Product Spotlight: Livestock Insurance
Just like crops, livestock can be insured to help protect a farming operation mitigate the risks associated with uncertain feed costs and fluctuating market prices.
AgriSompo currently offers three forms of livestock insurance:
Livestock Risk Protection is designed to protect against declining market prices. A variety of coverage levels and insurance periods are offered that match the time the livestock would normally be marketed.
Livestock Gross Margin insurance provides protection against the loss of gross margin (market value of livestock or livestock products minus feed costs). LGM uses futures prices to determine the expected gross margin and the actual gross margin.
Dairy Revenue Protection insures against unexpected declines in quarterly revenue from milk sales relative to a guaranteed coverage level. The expected revenue is based on futures prices for milk and dairy commodities and the amount of covered milk production elected by the producer.
What Makes AgriSompo Different?
AgriSompo makes life easier for agents servicing livestock insurance with a host of powerful tools and informational resources.
Easy-to-understand quotes: Our highly customizable AgriNet Quoting system provides a detailed breakdown tailored to your client’s individual operation.
Custom flyers, free of charge: Log into our Online Print Shop to order marketing materials with details about LRP, LGM and DRP, customized with your agency information and shipped to you at no charge.
On-demand training resources: Our online learning platform, Saba, provides 24/7 access to livestock exams, reference materials and recorded training webinars to get you up to speed fast.
A friendly team of experts: Our specialized livestock staff is always ready to answer your questions and provide the support you need to service your policyholders.
Contact your AgriSompo representative today to learn more about selling livestock insurance.
Ag Market Update: Weathering the Storm
By Brooks York, AVP of Producer Services
My mother quietly prayed. My dad, who normally did not show a lot of emotion in times like these, was pacing the floor. My brother and I were simply scared.
We had been told all day by the local television and radio stations that there was a chance of severe weather. Despite witnessing those “watches” turn into “warnings,” we were still surprised when the winds hit the side of our 1913 German immigrant-built home like a freight train.
The electricity flashed and darkness enveloped every room as we made our way to the basement. In 1983, there were no cell phones, social media or even internet. The St. Louis Cardinals baseball play-by-play was interrupted on our AM radio, replaced by a play-by-play of the storm that was bearing down on our county. Landline callers relayed information about the storm to the station; it had spun at least one tornado. By today’s standards, the unknowns were alarming. “How long will it last?” “Is anyone hurt?” These questions only added to our anxiety. One thing was certain: it was bad!
As on that day, from my childhood in 1983, agriculture is experiencing a storm. High interest rates, soaring input prices, tariff fears and depressed commodity prices leave us in the dark. “How long will it last?” “Will our businesses survive?”
Charts provided by Barchart.com.
Every year brings worries on a farm, but the last time we felt this much stress was probably in early 2020. It’s easy to forget now, but as we turned the calendar from 2019 to 2020, we were in the midst of another squall. Commodity stocks were burdensome, and COVID-19 was threatening global logistics and demand. It was a dark time, and it seemed certain that the storm would never end. There was simply not a bullish price indicator in sight. Then suddenly, just a few months later, we enjoyed three consecutive years of robust times in agriculture.
Charts provided by Barchart.com.
Examining the basement of a home is a great way to see how it was built. Looking up at the floor of our house, I was amazed that builders, without modern tools and electricity, could have built something like that from scratch. The floor joists were cut from yellow poplars and oaks and truly measured 2 inches by 12 inches, unlike today’s standards. It was built to withstand the type of storms that we encountered.
Brooks' childhood home, photographed in 1930.
The storm ended as quickly as it started. One of the barn cats signaled the end of the melee by coming out of its sanctuary and rubbing itself on the basement window. The radio station returned to the game. Willie McGhee bunted Ozzie Smith across home plate for a Cardinals win!
We opened the door to survey the damage, and it was not as bad as we had feared. The big maple tree lost some sizeable branches and some shingles had fallen to the yard, but to our surprise, everything essential seemed to be alright. We breathed a sigh of relief.
Is crop insurance stormproof? Of course not. There are inherent risks in the farming world that cannot be masked. However, crop insurance remains the best method for covering ag business.
The same house, still standing in 2020.
The craftsmen at AgriSompo are leading the industry in building solid protection platforms. You will find no other AIP that combines the multi-peril crop insurance, endorsements, private products, commodity programs, disaster program education and marketing knowledge to create such a sound construction of risk management.
Trust in your risk protection platform. We’re here to help you protect your legacy and that of your policyholders during any stormy season.
Regulation Roundup
Several changes implemented by the Risk Management Agency over the past month are highlighted below. To stay up to date with the latest information, be sure to bookmark the RMA’s “What’s New” page and check it out regularly.
Some of the most recent updates include:
Coverage under the Fire Insurance Protection - Smoke Index Endorsement (FIP-SI) has expanded to Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.
To reduce the administrative burden on policyholders transferring between AIPs, the RMA has waived the requirement to report crop production to the ceding AIP. Thus, policyholders who transfer their policy to a different AIP for the 2026 crop year may simply report their 2025 crop year production to their new AIP on or before the 2026 production reporting date.
Soybean coverage with a contract change date of June 30 has been expanded to three additional new counties in Ohio for the 2026 crop year.
The Triticale Crop Insurance Program has been expanded to 257 new counties; additionally, producers in counties with both winter and spring sales closing dates to revise their coverage until the spring sales closing date when there is no winter-planted acreage.
Coverage has been expanded for the Camelina Pilot Crop Insurance Program to allow producers to better manage risk.
The Grass Seed Crop Insurance Program has also received expanded coverage, as well as other changes intended to enable producers to adapt the program to their specific production and marketing practices.
Software Spotlight: Two Ways to Report Planting Events
The AgriNet system, designed from the ground up with flexibility and ease of use in mind, features two simple processes for reporting planting events. Learn about both below and choose the one that works best for you!
Keying Planting Events into AgriNet
Planting events and prevented planting acres can be keyed directly into the primary AgriNet system via the “Fields” tab available for every acreage line. This allows users to key planting information on the same screens they use to perform their other policy processing tasks.
Click here for a guide to keying planting events in AgriNet.
Using the Quick Plant Tool
Our highly requested Quick Plant tool, available within AgriNet Mapping, allows users to rapidly report multiple fields at once with just a few easy clicks. Simply select a crop-practice-type combination, then click the fields to which that combination applies. This tool functions similarly to the Quick Report tool available in the previous version of AgriNet Mapping.
Click here for a guide to using the Quick Plant tool.
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