The USDA Risk Management Agency published final 2023 county yields for Upland cotton on July 3, 2024, and approved insurance providers have begun sending out final indemnity payments to Upland cotton producers who purchased 2023 crop year Stacked Income Protection Plan (STAX) policy endorsements.
For most of Texas, drought and below average yields were the common theme in 2023, and producers who purchased or STAX — as a supplement to their regular multi-peril crop insurance purchase — will see indemnity payments triggered in almost every Texas county where those policies are available.
Looking specifically at STAX in PCG’s service area, every county in the region triggered indemnities on both irrigated and non-irrigated cotton. It is no surprise that each of the 41 STAX-eligible counties triggered the maximum possible payment rate under the 2023-crop policy for non-irrigated.
Irrigated was a slightly different story as STAX losses varied across the PCG area. While a majority (32 out of 41) of PCG’s counties triggered the maximum possible STAX payment on irrigated acres, the final irrigated yield per planted acre reported by RMA in nine counties (Armstrong, Crosby, Floyd, Garza, Hale, Hockley, Lubbock, Lynn and Motley) resulted in less than maximum payment rates for irrigated cotton.
STAX payment rates in the rest of Texas followed a similar pattern with indemnities triggered on at least one practice in all but three counties statewide. Those three counties (Culberson, El Paso and Hudspeth) are all located in the Trans-Pecos region where STAX is available only for irrigated cotton.
Seven other Texas counties triggered STAX payments on only one practice. Five of those counties (Hidalgo, Jim Hogg, Starr, Willacy and Zapata) are in the Lower Rio Grande Valley and triggered STAX payments on irrigated acres only. The other two counties (Victoria County in South Texas and Caldwell County in the Blacklands region) triggered STAX payments only on non-irrigated acres.