This potential disparity in availability of private insurance between regions and crops is sometimes cited as a reason for government intervention (. GAO, 1980; Appel, Lord, and Harrington, 1999), but here again, crop insurance is not unique. Many risk management tools used by farmers are available only in certain regions. For example, cash forward contracting is widely available for corn and soybean producers in the Midwest, although the same is not necessarily true for producers in regions where basis risk is high. But there is little impetus for government intervention in those markets. While the conclusions drawn from the above studies would argue that the case for government intervention in crop insurance markets is weak.
