New High for Crop Insurance and Food Price Index Up Slightly

**For the first time, farmers and ranchers bought crop insurance policies on more than 500 million acres last year, driven by the surging popularity of forage policies.

Enrollment in crop insurance was up 85% between 2016 and 2023.

USDA data says in 2021, insured acreage had grown to 444.5 million acres, with 40% covered by a forage policy.

To put that in perspective, there are almost 880 million acres in U.S. farms.

**U.S. Grains Council Chair Brent Boydston and Past Chair Josh Miller flew south for meetings with major stakeholders in the U.S. and Mexico corn trade market.

The goal was to maintain positive relationships with one of U.S. agriculture’s most valuable customers.

Boydston says with the recent challenges to rail transport logistics affecting grain imports from Mexico, it’s vital to work with the USDA’s Foreign Ag Service in Mexico to keep shipments moving.

**The U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization’s Food Price Index stood at 120.4 points in May, up 0.9% from its April level.

Increases in the price index for cereal and dairy products slightly more than offset decreases in those for sugar and vegetable oils.

The meat index was unchanged.

It was the third consecutive monthly index rise but remained

down 3.4% from the same time in 2023 and 25% below the 2022 peak.