As Illinois farmers, our biggest concerns regarding the whims of Mother Nature are late spring freezes, heavy spring rains that delay planting, wind, hail, and possibly flood damage.

But this year, we’re in a whole other ballgame. We live in a part of the state that is affectionately known as “Little Egypt,” which could be quite appropriate given the fact that our climate seems more like the Sahara Dessert than the Midwest.

The entire state finds itself in a drought, with all but five counties in a state of “severe, extreme or exceptional” drought. To put that in perspective, a good part of our state is a foot or more below average on rainfall this year. And about 66 percent of our entire corn crop is currently in poor or very poor condition.

It’s times like these that farmers who purchase crop insurance will be able to sleep at night. That’s because crop insurance was designed by Congress for years like this, as a tool to move some of the risk of America’s farm sector from the taxpayers to the private sector.