Crop Insurance
Kevin Martin, Extension Educator, Business Management
Lake Erie Regional Grape Program
Benefits & Claims
The 2012 crop year provided an unnecessary reminder of the role crop insurance plays in modern agriculture. Significant spring freeze events reduced regional yields by 50%. If crop insurance had been implemented by all growers at the 65% - 75% level of coverage, payments would have easily been in excess of $10,000,000. Premiums paid by regional growers would total approximately 900,000 annually. This illustrates the experience most growers have with crop insurance. In the event of a significant loss, the cash value of a claim typically covers the financial cost of premiums for 10 to 12 years.
CostsFinancial costs of crop insurance include an annual administrative fee and an annual insurance premium. The premium is based on the value of the maximum claim. For a typical Concord grower with a six ton average, premiums are approximately $30 per acre for 70% coverage. Changes in yield and price significantly impact the cost of the premium.
Crop insurance requires an investment in time, as well. Walking into the purchase of crop insurance with the expectation that there will be an annual investment in time immensely increases the probability that you will remain committed to the program. This investment of time has led to the decline in CAT (catastrophic) coverage. Typically CAT coverage results in claims once every ten or twenty years. Despite the extremely high level of premium subsidy, growers tend to give up CAT policies. The time associated with filing paperwork, filing potential claims and shopping policies appears onerous when the probability of a claim is very low.
Expected ValueOn average the typical expected value of crop insurance is approximately $3 for each $1 in premium purchased. Block divisions, site conditions and production risk do have the ability to change the risk of loss significantly. Those with less production risk and other factors tend to see a lower than average expected value. That being said, for nearly all growers a gross expected value of $.90 would be entirely adequate to justify the purchase of crop insurance.
Upcoming Events
LERGP Coffee Pot Meeting #4
May 22, 2024 : LERGP Coffee Pot Meeting
Burt, NY
Come join us for timely and pertinent vineyard discussion, coffee, donuts, camaraderie and pesticide credits.
LERGP Coffee Pot Meeting #5
May 29, 2024 : LERGP Coffee Pot Meeting
Fredonia, NY
Come join us for timely and pertinent vineyard discussion, coffee, donuts, camaraderie and pesticide credits.
LERGP Coffee Pot Meeting #6- LERGREC Field Day
June 5, 2024 : LERGP Coffee Pot Meeting
North East, PA
Come spend the day with us at LERGREC for a day of educational talks including research updates and new project information from Penn State, LERGREC and LERGP.
Announcements
Precision and Digital Viticulture Field Day
Thursday, June 6th, 2024 | 10:00 am - 3:00 pmCornell Lake Erie Research and Extension Laboratory Regional Grape Program
6592 West Main Road
Portland, NY 14769
Agenda
10:00 - 10:10 Welcome - Jennifer Phillips Russo & Dr. Terry Bates
Research Updates
10:10- 10:25 Drone Sensors - Dr. Rob Chancia, Rochester Institute of Technology - Rob is working together to address vineyard nutrition through better monitoring techniques and guidelines for grape production across the nation and all grape markets. He will discuss his research as a part of this collaborative project conducted at the Cornell Lake Erie Research and Extension Laboratory.
10:25 - 10:40 Hyperspectral Sensing Technology - Kathleen Kanaley, Dr, Katie Gold Lab, Cornell University - Kathleen will update on her research with using satellite and drone imagery to develop remote sensing tools for early disease detection.
10:40 - 11:00 Meet PPB & Research Update - Dr. Yu Jiang, Cornell University - Yu will discuss his research utilizing the power of robotics and artificial intelligence to tackle major challenges facing farmers and drive a revolution in agricultural productivity and sustainability.
11:00 - 11:20 Carnegie Mellon University Pruning Robots - Dr. Abhi Silwal, Carnegie Mellon University - Abhi will present the design and field evaluation of a rugged and fully autonomous robot for end-to-end pruning of dormant season grapevines.
11:20 - 11:40 Vision Spraying and Electric Weeding - Dr. Lynn Sosnoskie, Cornell Weed Scientist - Lynn will update us on her research for sustainable programs that investigate other tools and technologies for controlling unwanted vegetation exploring non-chemical strategies for weed suppression including covering crops and mulches and vision-guided and electric weeders.
11:40 - 12:00 Naio Ted Robotic Tool Carrier- Chuck Baresich, Owner of Haggerty Creek - Chuck will be talking about the Naio Ted Robot and the potential use of robots to help improve efficiency in vineyards. Ted is the only autonomous straddle robot for vineyards with Augmented Autonomy. Perfect for mechanical weeding on the row.
12:00 - 1:00 Lunch
1:00 - 3:45 Outdoor Demonstrations of Precision & Digital Tools
3:45 - 4:00 Closing Remarks - Jenn Phillips Russo, Lake Erie Regional Grape Program
Soil Health & Climate Resiliency Field Day 6/12/24
Come join us for a full day of education on soil health. We have special guest speakers, soil pits, demonstrations and lunch. This program is being hosted by the Betts' Farm. Sponsorship from the LERGP, USDA NRCS, Cornell CALS, New York Soil Health, King's Agriseeds and E & J Gallo Winery have made this program come together and provide lunch for the day.10:00am-10:20am- Welcome
10:20am-10:40am- Our Soil Health Journey- Bob Betts, Betts Farm
10:40am-11:05am- Soil Health in Perennial Fruit Systems- why it matters?- Debbie Aller, Cornell University
11:05am-11:35am- NYFVI Cover Cropping Trials- Jennifer Phillips Russo
11:35am-Noon- Cover Crop Options for Different Applications- Rod Porter, Kings Agri-Seeds
Noon- 12:45pm- LUNCH
12:45pm-2:15pm- Soil Pit and Soil Health Trailer and Demos- Dan Ufnar (USDS, NRCS), Debbie Aller & Michael Glos(Cornell University)
2:15- Closing Remarks
Welcome Andrew Holden to the LERGP team!
In case you have not heard yet, we have filled the vacant position of Business Management Educator. We are pleased to welcome Andrew Holden to our team. Here is a brief introduction with a little background. Please stop in to say hello and introduce yourself. Bring questions- he is ready to get to know you and your farm operation!The Lake Erie Regional Grape Program welcomed Andrew Holden, LERGP's Business Management Specialist, to our team on March 1, 2024, filling the vacancy since May 2023. Andrew pursued his education at Ohio State University, earning a B.S. in Agribusiness and Applied Economics and later obtaining an M.S. in Agricultural and Extension Education. In his previous role he served as the Ashtabula County Agricultural Extension Educator with Ohio State University Extension for the past 5 years. Andrew is eager to bring his passion for agriculture, grapes, and wine along with his economic knowledge to this new position and to the growers in the Lake Erie Grape Region. He is looking forward to engaging with growers to help him understand their needs to ensure that his role equips them with the tools needed for success. His office is located at the Cornell AgriTech campus in Portland, NY (CLEREL).
Commercial Vehicle Awareness slide presentation
NYS Trooper, Matt Luft, presented on Commercial Vehicle Awareness at CLEREL on Thursday, August 2nd. He has given us the permission to share his slides for you to reference at your convenience to share with others or to review. Please reference this link.LERGP Podcasts- check them out!
LERGP POD CASTS
Lake Erie Regional Grape Program - Cornell Cooperative ExtensionYour Trusted Source for Research-Based Knowledge
