Spring in the Midwest hasn’t exactly rolled out the red carpet for planting. Across Northern Ohio, Northeast Indiana, and Southern Michigan, farmers have faced a frustrating mix of excess moisture, cool soil temperatures, and limited planting windows. Fields have been slow to dry, and the calendar is moving faster than many would like.
As both a farmer and a crop insurance agent, I’m having the same conversations on both sides of the fence: What happens when planting gets delayed? What are your options when the final plant date arrives and the planter hasn’t moved?
Let’s walk through what late planting means for your crop insurance coverage, what management options you may want to consider, and how Prevent Plant (PP) may come into play.
Final Plant Dates for Our Region
- Corn: June 5
- Soybeans (OH/IN): June 20
- Soybeans (MI): June 15
After these dates, you’re not out of options, but your coverage starts to reduce by 1% per day during what’s called the Late Plant Period.
Late Plant Period: What You Need to Know
Once the final plant date passes, you enter what’s called the Late Plant Period.
- Corn: 20-day Late Plant Period
- Soybeans: 25-day Late Plant Period
You can still plant during this time, but your revenue guarantee is reduced 1% per day for each day past the final planting date.
Example:
If you plant corn on June 10, that’s 5 days late, and your Revenue Protection coverage would drop from, say, 80% to 75% on that acreage. This can significantly affect your revenue guarantee, especially in a year with tight margins.
Weigh Your Options
If you’re approaching or have passed the final plant date, you may want to weigh the following strategies:
1. Stick with Full-Season Corn?
When planting gets delayed, switching to a shorter-day corn hybrid may seem like the go-to move, but it’s not always the best economic decision. Research from Beck’s Practical Farm Research (PFR) shows that even when planted later, full-season corn hybrids often still offer better ROI than early-season varieties — even factoring in drying charges.
Shorter-day hybrids may reduce the frost risk, but if weather cooperates, staying with your original full-season hybrid could still win out on yield and profitability.
Before making the switch, consider your local hybrid performance data, expected frost date, and consult with your seed dealer.
2. Switch Corn Acres to Soybeans
If the window for corn planting has closed or your fields are too saturated, some farmers opt to switch unplanted corn acres to soybeans. This option is common in wet springs and can still be fully insurable—but it must be reported accurately.
Why switch?
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Soybeans have a later final plant date (June 20), giving you more time
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Input costs are generally lower for soybeans
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It may offer better late-planted potential than corn, especially in tighter years
3. Reallocate Field Priority Based on Soil & Drainage
Not all fields dry equally. One of the best management decisions you can make in a wet spring is to prioritize your best-drained or highest-return acres first. If certain fields consistently hold water or have uneven emergence, consider:
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Delaying or skipping those acres until later
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Reassigning those inputs to better-performing ground
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Using marginal acres for lower-risk management (like soybeans or forage)
Getting a portion of your acres planted in the best possible conditions can sometimes outweigh forcing every acre into the ground at all costs.
What About Prevent Plant?
If you can’t get the crop in the ground—even during the Late Plant Period—you may be eligible for Prevent Plant coverage. But like everything in crop insurance, the rules matter.
Key PP Rules for 2025:
- Only applies when planting is physically prevented due to weather, not input delays or market decisions.
- Standard PP coverage: 55% of your guarantee for corn, 60% for soybeans (additional coverage available with PF option selected by sales closing date).
- Eligibility is based on the greatest number of acres planted and insured in any one of the past 4 years per crop.
- Your PP eligibility is reduced by acres of that crop actually planted this season.
Who qualifies?
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First-year farmers can receive PP coverage if they filed an intended acreage report in March.
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Experienced farmers picking up new ground in a different county can also be eligible as new producers in that county, but only if they filed intended acreage reports.
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Experienced but newly insured producers in a county who didn’t farm the land previously—and didn’t submit intended acres—are not eligible for PP.
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New entities like LLCs or partnerships inherit the insurance history of the individual owners.
Second Crop Consideration:
If you file PP but later decide to plant a second crop (e.g. soybeans on corn PP acres):
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Your PP payment is reduced by 65%
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60% of your APH for the PP crop is assigned as your yield for the year
What If I Plant a Cover Crop After Filing a Prevent Plant?
You can—just know the rules.
- You can plant a cover crop anytime
- You can hay, graze, or chop it for forage at any time, even before Nov. 1, with no reduction in your PP payment
- You cannot harvest for grain or seed without reducing your PP payment
Additional Fine Print (Important!):
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If you harvest the cover crop for grain or seed and it was planted before the end of the Late Plant Period for the prevented crop, your PP payment is reduced to $0.
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If the cover crop is planted after the Late Plant Period and later harvested for grain or seed, your PP payment is reduced by 65%, and a 60% yield is assigned to the PP crop.
Also, if you’re considering Prevent Plant for only part of a field, that’s where it can get tricky. Split-field rules may apply, so be sure to talk through this scenario in detail with your agent.
Final Thoughts: Talk Before You Take Action
Whether you’re waiting for a dry window, thinking about changing crops, or wondering if Prevent Plant makes sense, it’s time to talk to your agent.
I know how tough this spring has been because I’m walking through it too. These decisions aren’t easy, but making them with good info and a clear understanding of your coverage can make all the difference.