Record high for Indiana crop insurance payouts - 14 News, WFIE, Evansville, Henderson, Owensboro

Indiana drought causes record insurance payouts

Posted: Updated:
  • 14 Headlines

  • Thursday, May 23 2013 9:21 AM EDT2013-05-23 13:21:56 GMT
    As of 5:30 Thursday morning, a 14 News Crew is at train derailment on Oak Grove Road. Officials say a train car has come off the track and are currently waiting for a crew from Louisville to get it back
    Officials say traffic is blocked near Kight Lumber and Morgan Avenue.
  • Thursday, May 23 2013 5:03 AM EDT2013-05-23 09:03:58 GMT
    A mobile home catches fire in Henderson for the second time in just over 24 hours. It happened at 622 Graves Drive. Officials say the back of the home caught fire Tuesday night just before midnight and
    Officials say the back of the home caught fire Tuesday night just before midnight and then again around midnight Thursday morning.
  • Saturday, May 25 2013 7:33 PM EDT2013-05-25 23:33:54 GMT
    Two people were killed in a massive house fire in Muhlenberg County. That fire broke out in a house on Hazel Creek Road in the small town of Beechmont. 14 News is currently on the scene and will have
    Two people were killed in a massive house fire in Muhlenberg County. That fire broke out in a house on Hazel Creek Road in the small town of Beechmont. 14 News is currently on the scene and will have
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) - -

Indiana crop insurance payouts for losses during last year's drought have reached a record $1 billion.

Purdue University said Tuesday that Indiana farmers have received the payouts for 2012 corn, soybean and wheat losses. That's nearly twice as much as the previous record of $522 million in 2008.

Purdue Extension agricultural economist Chris Hurt says the total will likely grow in the coming weeks as final claims are filed. He says the payouts are the primary reason Indiana's farm sector income has not collapsed under drought losses.

Indiana corn yields averaged 99 bushels per acre last year, or nearly 40 percent below normal.

Purdue says about 75 percent of Indiana crop acres were insured last year. Farmers wanting insurance for this year's crop must sign up for it by Friday.

(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)