Sometimes, timing is everything. And for fresh fruits and vegetables, there has been a recent convergence of trends and preferences that bode well for the industry.<\/p>\n
The first is the federal government\u2019s decision to ensure that more fresh fruits and vegetables are consumed as part of the school meal programs, which will expose children who would otherwise have limited access to these important foods. The other trend is the locavore \u2013 or eating local \u2013 movement, that underscores the importance of buying local and eating fresh produce.<\/p>\n
But to ensure that fresh fruits and vegetables are available for a population that is increasingly asking for them, we need to have wise public policies in place that help the farmers who grow these important foods to manage the many risks they face brought on by Mother Nature.<\/p>\n
And for specialty crop growers \u2013 farmers who grow this nation\u2019s fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts and berries \u2013 the quintessential risk management tool is crop insurance.<\/p>\n
Many of the public policies that underpin food production \u2013 typically known as farm programs \u2013 chiefly support the major food and feed commodities like corn, wheat and soybeans. Those crops and the programs that support them are critical and have been a major factor behind why the United States is a global player in food production.<\/p>\n
But for those raising specialty crops, crop insurance is the only public policy tool available to deal with extreme weather patterns. Crop insurance is a public-private partnership whereby farmers purchase their own policies to cover the risks they choose to pay for. And farmers are quite happy to purchase it, having spent $4.1 billion out of their own pockets in 2012.<\/p>\n
There has been a lot of media attention about the historic drought of 2012, and deservedly so. But that drought was preceded by a very devastating late spring freeze here in New England that nearly wiped out a year\u2019s worth of income for many of the growers who raise this nation\u2019s fresh apples.<\/p>\n
Without the protection of crop insurance, these growers might have been completely knocked out of business from such a devastating freeze. And the ones who hadn\u2019t purchased crop insurance might have been. But the majority of the region\u2019s farmers who purchase crop insurance every year, were able to bounce back from the freeze, continue to care for their orchards and prepare for the 2013 crop.<\/p>\n
But having just one bad year would have actually been good news for me. Six out the last seven years, I\u2019ve had hail damage on my apple crop. Last year, I lost 90 percent of my apple crop on that late frost and then the other ten percent was demolished by hail. For my peaches, another big crop on my farm, I\u2019ve also had major losses 6 out of the last 7 years. Needless to say, if I hadn\u2019t purchased crop insurance, I would have had many lean years in a row.<\/p>\n
Since crop insurance is sold, managed and delivered by the private sector, when disaster strikes, indemnity checks usually arrive less than a month after the paperwork is completed. In the past, when farmers would rely on disaster assistance from the federal government, it took months, or more than a year in some cases, for those funds to finally reach the hands of the growers who had lost everything. And for a grower whose entire apple crop has just been frozen, a year can be about 11 months too long.<\/p>\n
Crop insurance is available for 128 different crops, and that list is expanding. In some ways, the abundance of America\u2019s farm sector seems like a miracle, but it\u2019s not. If it weren\u2019t for hard work, investment, infrastructure and crop insurance to manage some of the major risks, there might be a lot fewer consumers enjoying America\u2019s fresh fruits and vegetables.<\/p>\n