Estimate your prevented planting insurance payment when weather or disasters prevent timely planting, based on APH, coverage, and PP payment factors.
When weather events such as flooding, excessive rainfall, drought, or other natural disasters prevent you from planting a crop by the final planting date (or within the late planting period), your federal crop insurance policy includes a prevented planting provision that pays a portion of your crop insurance guarantee without requiring you to plant.
This Prevented Planting Payment Calculator estimates the payment you would receive based on your APH yield, projected price, coverage level, acres affected, and the prevented planting payment factor. For most crops, the standard PP factor is 60% of the guarantee for corn and 55% for soybeans, though higher buy-up factors may be available for an additional premium.
Understanding your prevented planting payment helps you evaluate options in wet springs: wait and hope to plant, switch to a different crop, or take the PP payment and potentially plant a cover crop. Each option has financial trade-offs that this calculator can help quantify.
In years with wet or challenging spring weather, producers face difficult decisions under time pressure. Knowing the exact dollar value of a prevented planting payment versus the expected revenue from late planting or switching to an alternative crop helps you make the right economic decision quickly. This calculator removes the guesswork from one of farming's most stressful situations.
PP Payment = APH yield × Projected price × Coverage% × PP factor × Acres
Result: $95,802 prevented planting payment
Full revenue guarantee per acre = 180 bu × $5.91 × 75% = $797.85. PP payment per acre = $797.85 × 60% = $478.71. Total for 200 acres = $478.71 × 200 = $95,742. This is received without having to plant, harvest, or incur most input costs — net of saved expenses, it may be more profitable than late planting.
When spring weather threatens planting timelines, producers face a three-way decision: (1) wait and plant as conditions allow, even past the optimal date; (2) switch to a shorter-season alternative crop; or (3) take the prevented planting payment and leave the land idle or plant a cover crop.
The right choice depends on comparing expected net returns. Late-planted corn loses yield rapidly — typically 1.5% per day after the optimal planting window. At some point, the reduced expected yield makes the PP payment plus saved costs more attractive. This calculator quantifies the PP side of that comparison.
The 35% reduction for planting a second insurable crop often discourages the practice, but not always. If the second crop (perhaps soybeans after prevented corn) has sufficient expected revenue, the reduced PP payment plus the second crop revenue may exceed the full PP payment alone. Run both scenarios to find the best economic outcome.
Prevented planting years offer an opportunity to plant cover crops, which improve soil health, reduce erosion, and can provide livestock forage. Since non-harvested cover crops don't reduce the PP payment, this strategy turns a bad situation into a long-term soil investment.
Prevented planting applies when a natural cause (flooding, excess moisture, drought, etc.) prevents you from planting by the final planting date plus the late planting period. You must demonstrate that you intended to plant, had the inputs and equipment to plant, and were physically unable to do so. Your insurance agent and adjuster verify the claim.
RMA sets final planting dates by crop and county. For corn in the central Corn Belt, it's typically May 25–June 5. For soybeans, it's June 15–25. After the final planting date plus a 25-day late planting period, prevented planting provisions apply to unplanted acres.
Yes, but if you plant a second insurable crop for harvest, your PP payment is reduced to 65% of its original value (a 35% reduction). If you plant a non-insurable cover crop that isn't harvested for grain, there's no reduction. This rule encourages something to be growing on the ground for conservation.
Often yes. Late-planted corn loses 1–2% yield potential per day after the optimal date. If the PP payment exceeds expected late-plant revenue minus the variable costs you'd still incur (seed, fertilizer, fuel, labor), the PP payment is the better financial choice. Plus you avoid harvest costs entirely.
Prevented planting claims are typically processed faster than production loss claims because there's no yield to measure. Once the adjuster verifies conditions and the acreage report, payment can arrive within 30 days. This provides earlier cash flow than waiting for a late-planted crop to be harvested and sold.
You don't have to destroy equipment trying, but you must show you made a good-faith effort or that conditions clearly prevented planting. If fields are underwater, photos and weather data are sufficient. If conditions are marginal, you may need to attempt planting part of the field to document that completion was impossible.