Crop insurance companies already have paid $9.1 Billion in indemnity payments to US farmers for 2011. That a new record, and actually the largest lost claims in the history of the program according to USDA’s Risk Management Agency, and only 81% of claims have been finalized.

Former USDA chief economist Keith Collins says during the past 4 years more than $27 billion in private backed crop insurance has been paid to farmers affected by market drops or natural disasters.