IA Insurance Comm. - Extreme Weather, Soil Erosion Hurting Farm Insurance Sector

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Agriculture production generated $30 billion statewide last year, according to Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey. The insurance industry, which employs about 24,100 people in the Des Moines area, contributed about $11.8 billion a year to the state economy in 2010, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Northey said that Iowa is receiving more moisture than before, which is causing faster erosion of fertile topsoil. The state has averaged 35 to 36 inches of moisture the past 20 years, he said, vs. 31 inches during the 64-year period that ended in 1936. “When we see a 50 percent increase in moisture, which is a bunch, you see a 200 percent increase in runoff,” Northey said. “From an agricultural standpoint, there’s a lot less concern about what’s making this happen and a lot more concern about what we’re doing about it.”

David Miller, director of research at the Iowa Farm Bureau, said farmers are using larger mechanized planters to maximize their ability to sow crops when the weather cooperates. “They’ve reached a point now where they can plant almost the entire state in just three days of good weather,” he said.

Miller estimated that Iowa has experienced one weather anomaly every four years such as an unusually dry spring or wet summer since 1980. That compares with a previous rate of one weather anomaly every 20 years.

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http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20131211/BUSINESS08/312110133/Worries-over-wild-weather-grow-farmers-insurers?nclick_check=1