The findings from this study of Midwestern U.S. farmers indicate that crop insurance participants have business, personal, and other characteristics that differ significantly from nonparticipants and across the respective types of insurance products. Consistent with the conceptualized relationships, Midwestern farmers who are more highly leveraged, less
wealthy, riskier, and operate larger acreages engage more extensively in insurance and are more likely to choose revenue protection versus more specific yield and hail protection. These insurance users place higher values on risk management in general and consider insurance as one among several risk management practices. These market profiles have emerged in recent years, as the range of insurance products has expanded, despite the presence of relatively high government payments to farmers. Crop insurance, thus, serves as an increasingly important instrument of agricultural policy. Continued changes in the structural characteristics of the farm sector will likely lead to continued reliance on more highly valued insurance products.