Apr 11, 2016

Report crop loss after cold weather

In light of the cold temperatures experienced recently, a call to your crop insurance agent may be in order. If you believe the recent low temperatures may have damaged your crop you have 72 hours to report the event to your insurance provider.

If you have not documented the temperatures at your farm, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) provides weather information three days prior to the date you access their web site and enter your ZIP code.

The call to your crop insurance agent will trigger your insurance provider to contact the company and insurance adjuster. The adjuster will then visit your farm and try to determine any crop loss. You may not be able to determine the size of the crop this early in the growing season however, you will have documentation when the crop load can be better determined. The report will remain open until an accurate determination can be assessed. This information pertains to any weather event (hail, drought, etc.) that impacts your farm and crop.

There is a long way to go before this crop is in the bin and delivered or sold so keep this information in mind throughout the season.

I understand that most growers are insuring at the 50/100% level. This means you will need to lose 51% of the crop but you will receive 100% of established prices. You should review your policy this summer or early fall and decide if this option serves your needs for income should you have a crop loss. I am not advocating everyone buys up additional coverage—this is just a reminder that you can change these levels.

I recently discovered that Washington State only has 38% of their acreage covered under traditional (crop specific) crop insurance policies. They do however use the Whole Farm Revenue product extensively. To use this product or to obtain information as to whether this product may be attractive to you, contact your insurance provider and have an in-depth discussion to see if this product may serve your needs. For more information covering specific policies, please see the Penn State Extension Crop insurance web site.

For records of low temperatures recorded this spring in Northeastern orchards, visit the Network for Environment and Weather Applications. Click on an orchard or airport weather station of interest, and then select “daily summaries” for April. Critical temperatures for fruit crops at various bud stages are listed at the Penn State Extension Tree Fruit Production website.

For more information, please visit http://extension.psu.edu/plants/tree-fruit.

— Lynn Kime, Penn State University

Source: Penn State Extension