Unharvested Acres Not Eligible for Prevent Planting Coverage

Many acres of last year’s corn crop in North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota have not been harvested. Many producers were expecting to harvest the corn this spring after the snow melted, but with the ground still frozen. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate for this to happen, so producers must wait until the fields are dry and firm enough to hold equipment.

“To make matters worse, land not harvested will not be eligible for prevented planting coverage under multiperil crop insurance policies,” says Dwight Aakre, North Dakota State University Extension Service farm management specialist. “Producers will need to take advantage of any opportunity that becomes available to harvest the corn in order to either plant a late-season crop, such as soybeans or sunflowers, or at least to ensure the acreage is eligible for prevented planting.”

Another opportunity for those with livestock and in need of additional hay may be to wait until early summer for the ground to dry and then harvest the corn and plant an emergency short-season hay crop.

“While an emergency hay crop is seldom financially competitive with most cash crops, if feed is needed, it still can be a profitable use of the land,” Aakre says.

NDSU Agriculture Communication