{"id":5278,"date":"2014-03-04T10:24:45","date_gmt":"2014-03-04T15:24:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ncis.staging.wpengine.com\/?p=5278"},"modified":"2014-03-04T10:24:45","modified_gmt":"2014-03-04T15:24:45","slug":"crop-insurance-in-action-tom-march-bethlehem-connecticut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iripreviewsite.com\/cropinsuranceinamerica\/crop-insurance-in-action-tom-march-bethlehem-connecticut\/","title":{"rendered":"CROP INSURANCE IN ACTION:  Tom March, Bethlehem, Connecticut"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/iripreviewsite.com\/cropinsuranceinamerica\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/March-Farm-View2.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" alt=\"March Farm View2\" src=\"https:\/\/iripreviewsite.com\/cropinsuranceinamerica\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/March-Farm-View2.jpg\" \/><\/a>In 1915, Thomas and Rose Marchukaitis, two Lithuanian immigrants who had been in the country for only a few years, purchased a farm in Bethlehem, Connecticut, which consisted of 114 acres and supported 15 cows and two horses. There, they raised their nine children and worked hard for their American dream.<\/p>\n<p>Three generations later, their grandson, Tom March, is still farming that parcel of land, which has grown to 150 acres, along with his brother-in-law and their two sons. \u201cWe\u2019re a diversified farm, because you have to be,\u201d said March, whose farm consists of about 75 acres of sweet corn, 30 acres of apples, 4 acres of peaches, along with some strawberries and blueberries.<\/p>\n<p>March took over the farm from his father in 1976 and has been at it ever since. Most farmers are quick to recount their \u201creally bad year,\u201d but Mother Nature has been unusually cruel to the March Farms with a long string of natural disasters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHaving just one bad year would have actually been good news for us,\u201d said March. Six out the last seven years, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.marchfarm.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">March Farms<\/a> has had hail damage on their apple crop, one of their largest sources of revenue. \u201cIn 2012, I lost 90 percent of my apple crop on that late frost and then the other 10 percent was demolished by hail,\u201d said March. \u201cFor my peaches, another big crop on my farm, I\u2019ve also had major losses six out of the last seven years,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNeedless to say, if I hadn\u2019t purchased crop insurance, I would have had many lean years in a row.\u201d March has been purchasing crop insurance for more than a decade, and said that he can\u2019t imagine farming without it.<\/p>\n<p>March said that he had high hopes for this year, thinking that he might be able to break the bad streak and post a big bumper crop across the board. And then, it started raining. And it rained, and rained, and rained. \u201cThis year, it\u2019s been so wet, I haven\u2019t been able to get any corn in the ground, and it\u2019s already July,\u201d he noted. \u201cThe tractors just couldn\u2019t get through that mess.\u201d Soon, it will be too late to plant corn altogether, as days shorten and nights get cooler.<\/p>\n<p>March explained that crop insurance allows farmers to pick up the pieces when a disaster, or a string of disasters, hit. \u201cIn farming, you only get one shot at this. If you lose a crop, you\u2019re generally done for the season,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>March explained that while a late spring frost can completely destroy an orchard\u2019s earning potential for the year, it doesn\u2019t remove its ongoing costs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFarmers need access to crop insurance to stay in business, it\u2019s as simple as that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf your apples freeze off at the beginning of the year, what are you going to do for income?\u201d he asked. \u201cYou not only lost a crop, but you also have the long-term maintenance cost on the trees, weed control, pruning, pest control and then getting the trees ready for next year. So you have lots of cost and little income,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s when purchasing crop insurance turns into a saving grace. The crop insurance indemnity offers both peace of mind, and financial backing to pay off production loans or to buy inputs for the next year.<\/p>\n<p>March noted that generally, people don\u2019t go into farming to make a lot of money, but because it\u2019s a passion and a good, healthy way of life. \u201cThe only time you make any money in farming is when you grow something out of season, or when there\u2019s a major disaster elsewhere and your crops are in good shape,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Like many other farmers both large and small, March is incensed by crop insurance opponents who malign farmers by claiming that crop insurance only helps a handful of rich farmers get richer. March said the statement itself shows how little these critics know about farming, or farmers. \u201cYou try growing this stuff and try raising a farm and see how much money you make,\u201d he said. \u201cDon\u2019t give us this nonsense about how much money we make, because it\u2019s not true,\u201d he said. \u201cThey see the income numbers, but they have no idea of the costs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>March explained that every year, March Farms gets through it one way or the other. \u201cWhat are you going to do, cry over spilled milk or pick up the pieces and move forward?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe always manage to pull through,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 1915, Thomas and Rose Marchukaitis, two Lithuanian immigrants who had been in the country for only a few years, purchased a farm in Bethlehem, Connecticut, which consisted of 114 [&hellip;]<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-testimonials"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - 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