Crop insurance, alternative harvest save farmers

MIAMI COUNTY, Kan. - For Miami County, Kan. farmer Bruce Betts, the window to save his 1,300 acres of corn has dried up.

"We got a little shower last night, but it's too late for the corn," said Betts.

He went into spring planting optimistic, hoping for $750 per acre and a potential of nearly $500,000 in profit. Now Betts is looking to break even after crop insurance covers his $450,000 planting costs.

"We just hope for the best next year," Betts said.

With almost no profit expected from grain, many farmers are in the fields harvesting the silage to turn into feed.

"There's very little actual grain value there right now, but there still is some feed value in the stalks while it's green," said Great American Crop Insurance claims supervisor John Johnson.

While silage has lower value than grain, Johnson said at this point, farmers will take what they can get.

Johnson is getting a lot of calls from farmers, asking about time frames and dates.

"Just overall concern about making sure that they do everything right so they get paid their crop insurance payments," he said.

While the corn crop is a bust, Betts still has some hope for his soybeans. That crop does better in dry conditions.