Cotton farmers in some areas of the Big Country are still playing the waiting game. Waiting for the rain to stop and hoping their fields will dry up enough so they can get back in and save what cotton survived or plant some more. The final planting day was Sunday. In order to collect on crop insurance, a farmer had to plant or try to replant his crop up until that day. Now, insurance coverage decreases with each day that goes by.
Crop insurance is based on yield potential.
This is derived from a producer's production history over the past five years. Crops planted after the final planting date are expected to have lower yields. For this reason, crop insurance coverage, or the producer's yield potential, decreases 1 percent every day for 15 days after the final planting date. At the end of those 15 days, the crop is deemed non-insurable. Producers in this area have until July 5 to replant with some degree of insurance coverage.