Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) Crop Insurance

SCO Crop Insurance Overview

Understanding Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO)

Producers can elect Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) on their underlying Multi-Peril Crop Insurance (MPCI) policy for any farm they do not enroll in the Agricultural Risk Coverage program in a given year.

SCO provides area-based coverage on top of their individual Revenue Protection, Yield Protection or Actual Production History plan up to 86%.

Whatever the individual policy, SCO will pay when the county experiences either a yield or revenue loss (depending on the underlying policy) regardless of whether the producer has a loss on their underlying policy.

Watch the video to learn more.

How SCO Coverage Works

First, purchase an Actual Production History (APH), Yield Protection (YP), Revenue Protection (RP), or Revenue Protection with the Harvest Price Exclusion policy (RPHPE).

Your underlying coverage will determine your SCO coverage.

Yield Protection = SCO covers yield loss
Revenue Protection = SCO covers revenue loss

Premiums

The premium for SCO is based on several factors including the crop, county, coverage level, and type of coverage you select as your underlying policy.

Eligible Crops

SCO is available for more than 50 different crops: Corn, soybeans, wheat, grain sorghum, forage production, barley, canola, sunflowers, dry beans, dry peas, sugarbeets, potatoes, oats, flax, apples, sweet corn, silage sorghum, rye, alfalfa seed, cultivated wild rice, and buckwheat.
Paid when actual yield is less than the production guarantee due to a covered peril.

Additional Coverages

You cannot participate in both ECO and Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) on the same acres. If you take out an SCO policy on the same acres as ARC, your SCO policy will be canceled. You must report the crop as covered by ARC on your acreage reporting through the Farm Service Agency or forfeit 20% of your SCO premium on that crop.

Available to all qualifying producers regardless of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status.

How SCO Works

Icon of a shield with a dollar sign in the middle above a row of seedlings

Purchase Underlying Policy

You must first purchase an Actual Production History (APH), Yield Protection (YP), Revenue Protection (RP), or Revenue Protection with the Harvest Price Exclusion policy (RPHPE).

Icon of a shield with a green check mark in the middle above a field

SCO Coverage

The amount of SCO coverage depends on the liability, coverage level and approved yield for your underlying policy.

Icon of a dollar sign within a circle within a shield

SCO Payments

Your underlying policy pays out on an invidual basis, while SCO pays on an area basis when the county average revenue falls below 86% of its expected level.

Free Guide: Strategies for Navigating Narrow Margins in 2025

With high input costs and low crop prices, now is the time to be proactive with your crop insurance strategy. This guide explains why sticking to old practices is risky and why you should consider area plans like Enhanced Coverage Option (ECO) and Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO).

This guide also includes:

How area plans can offer better financial protection under current market conditions.
Examples of adding area plan coverage to an underlying MPCI policy.
Questions to help you reevaluate your risk management strategy.

Request the Guide

Complete the form to receive your free digital download.

Podcast about Area Plans

Members of our experienced crop insurance team discuss how crop insurance and marketing goals can work together to provide the best financial return.

Crop Insurance: Considering Area Plans

Area plans or county-based plans can help bridge the gap between profit and loss. Learn more about area plans, and why the current price environment makes these plans an option that can help give you peace of mind.

Listen to More Podcasts

Why Work With Us for Crop Insurance

Icon of a person with a thought could with a leaf in the center

Dedicated Specialists

Our agents are non-commissioned and focus 100% of their time on crop insurance and livestock insurance — every working day of every week in the year. They don’t sell property, casualty or life insurance.