New and Improved Crop Insurance Options for Specialty and Organic Growers

USDA is beefing up crop insurance options for specialty crop and organic producers, including rolling out new and expanded options based on feedback from America’s agricultural producers. To achieve this, USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) accelerated its outreach efforts to hear directly from producers across the country by hosting in-person and virtual roadshows and making investments in risk management education. These improvements are part of a comprehensive effort to improve risk management tools and other programs for a wide variety of producers as well as expand access to organic markets.

From 1990 to 2022, liabilities for insured specialty crops rose from $1 billion to more than $23 billion. Over the past 20 years, the number of individual specialty crops insured under crop insurance programs increased by 27%. Currently, there are more than 70 individual specialty crops insured under crop insurance programs.

New Crop Insurance Options:

• Transitional and Organic Grower Assistance Program (TOGA): For 2022, RMA offered this new program reduce a producer’s overall crop insurance premium bill allowing them to continue using organic agricultural systems. Premium benefits for TOGA included: 10 percentage points of premium subsidy for all crops in transition, $5 per acre premium benefit for certified organic grain and feed crops, and 10 percentage points of premium subsidy for all Whole-Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP) policies covering any number of crops in transition to organic or crops with the certified organic practice.
• Tropical Storm Coverage: For crop year 2023 and succeeding years, RMA added a new option to Hurricane Insurance Protection – Wind Index (HIP-WI) for named tropical storm weather events. The Tropical Storm Option covers damage caused by strong weather systems not categorized as hurricanes. Both a wind and precipitation trigger must occur for an indemnity to be paid. This new option helped many producers recover after Hurricane Idalia this year. About 60% of eligible policies elected this option.
• Grapevine: Beginning in crop year 2024, producers can insure all types of grapevines in select counties in California, Idaho, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington. This policy complements the existing Grape crop insurance program that covers the fruit growing on the vine. The policy covers freeze, fire, hail, flood, failure of irrigation water supply, and other causes of loss.
• Kiwifruit: Beginning in crop year 2024, producers in 12 California counties can insure their kiwifruit against unforeseen weather perils and other naturally occurring perils. The program covers three varietal group types: Hayward; Reds & Golds; and Mega. The Hayward variety currently makes up 92% of the California crop followed by non-Hayward varieties, including reds and golds and one green variety marketed as Mega Kiwi.
• Pomegranate: Beginning in crop year 2023, pomegranate producers in select California counties can receive yield-based insurance coverage for standard weather, natural, and environmental perils as well as quality losses. Coverage is available for two varietal groups: “Early” and the ‘Wonderful’ varieties and all others. The program also recognizes the different utilization values of fresh fruit, arils, and juice.
• Controlled Environment: Beginning in crop year 2024, producers can insure plants produced in a controlled environment against disease that occurs in their facility. This program will provide the following benefits: simple application and policy renewal process, like the Nursery Value Select program, and insurance for controlled environment producer-selected plant categories. In addition to specialty crop and organic producers, this policy will greatly benefit urban producers.

Improved Crop Insurance Options:

• Whole-Farm Revenue Protection Program (WFRP): Several improvements will begin in the 2024 policy year including: allowing all eligible producers to qualify for 80% and 85% coverage levels; allowing producers to purchase catastrophic coverage level policies for individual crops with WFRP; expanding yield history to a 10-year maximum (from four years) for all crops not covered by another federal crop insurance policy; making the policy more affordable for single commodity producers; and allowing producers to customize their coverage by choosing whether WFRP will consider other federal crop insurance policies as primary insurance when calculating premium and revenue to count during claim time.
• Micro Farm: Several updates were made to Micro Farm including: moving the sales closing date to a less busy time of year to help agents dedicate time to marketing the program, allowing producers to purchase other federal crop insurance with Micro Farm, allowing vertically integrated entities to be eligible and making the Expanding Operations feature available.
• Pistachios: Several revisions were made to the Pistachio policy including: allowing insurance for producers with fewer than four years of production records under the new Transitional Yields (T-Yields); clarifying simple average approved yield for APH databases containing T-Yields; clarifying variability adjustment requirements for actual production history databases; and allowing assigned yields and temporary yields if indicated in the Special Provisions.
• Quality Loss Option (QLO): RMA is making the QLO available to several initial specialty crops, including avocados (California only), blueberries, cranberries, grapes, peaches, stone fruit, and table grapes. RMA plans to make the option available to additional specialty crops in the upcoming months after further review.

For more information, visit RMA’s Specialty Crop Page.