Crop Insurance Traps Floodplain Farmers

In high‑risk places like Alexander County, Illinois, federal crop insurance and commodity supports cushion repeated losses, encouraging farmers to keep planting land that floods or droughts out. Programs meant to help them retire or convert acreage are small, slow, and staff‑starved, so families sow 'futile' fields to stay solvent. Recent budget choices reportedly expanded farm support while cutting staff who manage exit programs, deepening the trap. — It reframes climate adaptation in agriculture as an incentive‑design and governance problem, not just a funding or technology issue.