Enhanced Subsidies Boost Coverage Options

As farmers and ranchers prepare for the 2026 crop year, crop insurance decisions are taking center stage. At their annual insurance meetings in Hope and Hillsboro, Ihry Insurance’s Reed Ihry said recent changes are providing new flexibility, especially with enhanced subsidies tied to certain coverage options. “As ECO, even though you do ARC, in the past we weren’t able to buy the supplemental coverage option. Now we can up to 86 percent. ECO covers them then countywide from 86 to 95 percent. So top end costs a little more, but we’re trying to protect their balance sheet from the top down on a countywide loss.” Ihry says the ability to stack Enhanced Coverage Option with other programs is helping producers increase protection levels while managing premium costs. With improved government support for programs like ECO and SCO, Ihry says some growers are seeing lower premiums even as they boost coverage levels. He also encourages livestock producers not to overlook risk management tools, especially with cattle prices near record highs. Ihry says Livestock Risk Protection and Pasture, Rangeland and Forage policies remain valuable tools to guard against both price swings and weather-related losses.