By Robert Pore
Federal Crop Insurance Corp. needs to expand use of the Biotech Yield
Endorsement (BYE) beyond four pilot states into states such as Nebraska for
the 2009 growing season, according to the Nebraska Farm Bureau.
Farm Bureau President Keith Olsen said there's a great deal of
interest from Nebraska corn producers about this new pilot program.

"Assuming they comply with the requirements of the BYE, corn producers
in our state should also have the opportunity to receive a discount on their
crop insurance premiums by planting BYE-qualifying hybrids to manage risk
more effectively," Olsen said in comments this week to FCIC.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the pilot BYE allows
eligible producers to receive a premium rate reduction for planted corn on a
unit-by-unit basis.

In 2008, Olsen said, savings in the four pilot states may range from
$3 to $7 an acre for farmers who are using revenue-based crop insurance
products such as CRC or RA.

"Expansion of this program will encourage more currently insured
growers to buy up coverage and prompt uninsured growers to purchase
insurance," he said. "Encouraging increased participation in lower-risk
technologies and participation in crop insurance in general is consistent
with the goal many of us have of improving the existing safety net for
producers."

The four pilot BYE states are Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Minnesota.

Olsen said that with rising land costs, cash rents, input and energy
costs, corn producers in Nebraska understand the risk associated with corn
production and would welcome the opportunity to participate in the BYE as a
way to better manage their risks.

"We strongly believe that expanding availability of the BYE to all
corn-growing states will help growers meet unprecedented challenges with the
volatile markets while also making premium rates reflect the lower risk
inherent to the BYE-qualified technology," he said.

According to the USDA, the pilot BYE is available this year and will
end at the end of the 2011 crop year, unless canceled or extended by FCIC.

The main requirements are that producers must purchase an individual
yield or revenue insurance plan (APH, RA, or CRC) at a buy-up level of
coverage, and at least 75 percent of the total insured corn acres planted in
a unit must be nonirrigated corn for grain planted to a corn hybrid
containing Monsanto triple-stack genetics. However, producers are still
subject to current EPA refuge requirements.

According to the USDA, biotechnology varieties accounted for 79
percent of the planted acreage in Nebraska in 2007, up from 76 percent the
previous year.


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