Abstract

The collapse of hog prices in the fall of 1998 precipitated renewed interest in using insurance as a means of providing an affordable safety net to U.S. farmers. Legislation has been introduced that would amend the Federal Crop Insurance Act to allow livestock insurance. This paper discusses some of the issues raised by an expansion of revenue insurance, and provides an example of a whole-farm insurance product that insures against revenue losses on a diversified farm producing corn, soybeans, and hogs.