Start Thinking Now About Crop Insurance Deferral for the 2026 Harvest
If you receive crop insurance proceeds in 2026 not all of it may be deferrable to 2027
We are still months away from harvest, but spring planting is the right time to start thinking about how a 2026 crop insurance check would land on your tax return. The discovery prices are set, policies are in place, and the planning decisions you make over the next few weeks will shape what your options look like next December.
Every fall we get the same question: “Can I push my crop insurance check into next year?” The answer is the favorite answer of every CPA — it depends. Better to know the rules going in than to scramble in November.
To defer a crop insurance payment received in 2026 into 2027 under Section 451(f), a cash-basis farmer must clear three hurdles:
You must be on the cash method of accounting.
The proceeds must be received in the same year the damage occurred.
Under your normal business practice, more than 50% of that crop would have been sold in the year after harvest.
Clear all three and you still are not necessarily home free, because of the big one: only the portion of your check tied to yield damage is deferrable. The portion tied to a price drop is not.
