By Chris Bardenhagen
Cold weather snaps, drought, excessive rain and other uncontrollable events make farming a risky business. With fruit crops, pollination is added to the risk mixture. Crop insurance is an important tool for managing these risks. Fruit growers can use crop insurance programs to help provide income stability for their farm.
The fruit session is the first installment of the Farm Policy and Risk Management webinar series. It will focus on insurance options for Michigan tree fruit and small fruit growers. Fruit crops will include cherries, apples, grapes (including the new grapevine insurance program), peaches, blueberries and more. We will review Actual Production History (APH) and Actual Revenue History (ARH) programs. The coverage levels available, how payouts are calculated and other details will be presented. The session will also review the Whole Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP) and Micro Farm (MFP), which are based on overall crop revenue. These can be used to cover many crops and farm commodities, across multiple markets.
Cory Blumerick of GreenStone Farm Credit Services will join Chris Bardenhagen, Michigan State University Extension, in presenting this session. Cory leads GreenStone’s Specialty Crop Insurance team. He has many years of experience in helping fruit farmers to find their best options. He is also an advocate for new policies and policy changes that are beneficial for farmers and fruit growers.
Source : msu.edu