Revenue protection crop insurance plans manage risks due to decreased prices, low yields or a combination of both. RP plans is based on a producer’s actual production history, and the pricing is determined by either the harvest price or the projected market price, whichever is higher. Options exist for insurance between 50-85% of the average yield, and between 50-100% of the price.

Yield protection crop insurance plans, which protect against losses due to weather, insects, disease, and wildlife damage, use a farm’s actual production history to determine the amount of coverage needed. Prices for YP plans are established by the commodity board of trade/exchange in something called the Commodity Exchange Price Provisions. Producers may opt to insure anywhere between 50-85% of their yield average, and between 50-100% of the price.

Area revenue protection plans use county-wide production averages and expected harvest prices to determine coverage. Producers may select coverage amounts between 70-90% of county average yields, and 60-100% of the market price. ARP plans offer both spring and fall harvest options.

The revenue protection with harvest price exclusion plan functions very similarly too the straight revenue protection (RP) plan. The difference with RP HPE is that, instead of allowing for both yield and price protections, the RP HPE variant only allows protection based upon projected price.

Actual production history plans cover naturally occurring events like adverse weather, insects, and disease. Plan coverage is based on actual individual farm annual historical production records, not averages or area averages. The prices for these plans are established by the Risk Management Agency, an agency within the United States Department of Agriculture.