Reminder: Perennial Fruit Crop Sales Closing

CORTLAND, N.Y. — The deadline to insure Northeast perennial crops for the 2024 crop year is November 20, 2023. Insurable perennial crops include apples, peaches, grapes, cranberries, blueberries, pears and cherries. Coverage availability varies by county, so please review the information available at CropGrowers.com, or contact a Crop Growers agent.

To protect investments in the 2024 crop, perennial crop producers should contact their Crop Growers agent well in advance of the November 20 deadline to sign up or make changes to their coverage. Adding the Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) to your current crop insurance coverage strengthens your risk management plan by providing up to 86% yield protection for area-based losses. The SCO option is very affordable and must be added at the sales closing of your underlying crop insurance policy.

Producers who are renewing coverage should report to their crop insurance agent any changes in their business, such as bringing a new member into the business or forming an LLC or corporation.

“Today, as the largest crop insurance provider, we protect over 50,000 acres of perennial crops in the Northeast,” said Kelsey (Mapstone) Linder, Crop Growers Northeast Marketing Agent based in Western New York. “We take great pride in keeping our producers up to date on the mechanics of the policies throughout the year to make sure they have the tools they need to support a sound risk management strategy.”

The crop insurance program has become the backbone of many Northeast farms risk management plans. This May’s heavy frost reinforced the importance of crop insurance for many northeast producers.

Weather fluctuation and market volatility are major risks for crop producers.  Crop insurance helps to manage this risk by providing protection against damage caused by hail, wind, frost, excess moisture, drought, disease, insects or wildlife.

Crop Growers, is an independent agency that sells and services crop insurance for 35 different crops throughout an eight-state territory. Crop Growers is owned by Farm Credit East. Producers do not need to be a Farm Credit customer to purchase crop insurance. Contact the Crop Growers Customer Service Center at 1-800-234-7012 to learn more.