Crop Insurance

Top crop insurance companies like Dalena / Benik & Associates know that protecting your farming operation means choosing the right crop insurance policy to fit your needs. In addition to providing financial protection, it can also be a benefit in obtaining loans from your lending institutions.

As a broker, we work only with crop insurance companies that are committed to offering the best coverage for your farming operation at the best possible value. You’ll also get our personal commitment to help throughout the process; from researching the right company to assisting you with your claims.

Choosing the Right Crop Insurance

To those who only enjoy the fruits of your labor, agriculture in general seems like one giant, uniform industry where all farmers are alike. Here in California though, we know that our agribusiness industry is very different from the Midwest or other regions.

This is very apparent in your crop insurance options. Dalena/Benik & Assoc. provides you with our quick guide to crop insurance. Instead of studying this complex system in depth, though, let us do the heavy lifting. We’re crop insurance specialists and we’ll spend the time combing through the options for you to research the right company for your needs.

Specialty Crops Appear to Have Fewer Options

Most of California’s top crops are considered “specialty crops” which includes fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, and dried fruits. Most specialty crops are covered by federally subsidized insurance policies which are available through private crop insurance companies.

While specialty crops aren’t eligible for the long-standing price and income support programs for commodity crops, they are eligible for crop insurance for losses due to yield damage from natural causes like drought, heavy rain, freezing, diseases and in some cases low prices. These losses can be small and part of the expected perils of farming, or they can make a global impact like the “freeze of the century” when a two-day record-breaking cold snap in Florida damaged 90% of the citrus crop in 1985, or in early December of 2013 when citrus growers in California suffered big losses.

More than 80 types of fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, and nursery crops are currently covered by individual federal crop insurance plans. Still, not every crop is covered due to lack of perceived interest, issues of market pricing sensitivities, and a long process to get a crop covered. The list is constantly being expanded and we can advise you on what is covered where.

The specialty crops that most often use crop insurance include:

  • Processed tomatoes 98%
  • Prunes 93%
  • Oranges 90%
  • Grapefruit 85%
  • Almonds 84%

Business Risk Management

Your crop insurance agent can be extremely helpful as a broker and advisor. We are an Approved Insurance Provider of the USDA RMA program. Reach out to us and let us help you cut through the layers to discover what is best for you and your operation’s needs. We have the ability to pair Multi-Peril and Named Peril private policies for those crops that we feel are at more risk.

It’s a complex system with many options because specialty crops are much more diverse and growers tend to have smaller acreages, the nuances and contingencies must be that much more detailed. They are sold in much more diverse markets with different pricing structures and aren’t sold in open markets, in bulk like the commodity crops.

This is why your crop insurance agent can be extremely helpful as a broker and advisor. We are an Approved Insurance Provider of the USDA RMA program. Reach out to us and let us help you cut through the layers to discover what is best for you and your operation’s needs.