Ag economist Art Barnaby of Kansas State University created a 13-page summary of the crop subsidy and federally subsidized crop insurance provisions of the 2014 farm law. It provides examples of how new programs would work and there are tables of price variability over the years.
Barnaby discusses factors for a farmer’s decision whether to enroll in the new revenue protection program or the traditional price protection program. The revenue program is more likely to pay on corn and soybeans, he says, but opting for price protection allows year-to-year adjustment of crop insurance coverage and use of the insurance-like supplemental coverage option. There is no payment limit on SCO so it may appeal to large growers.