Crop insurance is widely used on major crops raised in the Northern Plains. Prospective reductions in the crop insurance premium subsidy are commonly expected to result in lower use of insurance. Corn and soybean producers in South Dakota responded to the shift in subsidy levels beginning in...

The “Sodsaver” provision, which is a part of the 2008 Federal farm bill, is designed to lessen the conversion of native grass into cropland by limiting federal farm program payments on these converted acres within the Prairie Pothole National Priority Area (PPNPA) in the Northern Plains....