Potential check-off benefits to farmers in the presence of wind-borne diseases

In the event of wind-borne disease outbreaks, farmers have traditionally purchased insurance plans that issue indemnity payments upon infection. This paper highlights a possible alternative to standard programs by assessing potential benefits to infected area farmers through a check-off program. A simulation is conducted assuming three outbreak scenarios using Asian soybean rust (ASR) as a case and data collected by a USDA soybean rust tracking system. Results revealed that at 33.2, 39.4, and 59.3% probabilities of spread, the benefits to soybean producers after infestation are greater than the standard policy under the spread scenarios with $160.95, $221.31, and $527.21 million.   Key words:  Wind-borne disease, soybean rust, indemnity payments, check-off.