The acreage of organic fruits protected by Federal crop insurance has increased notably from 2011 to 2021. For instance, the acreage of insured organic apples more than doubled from about 12,000 acres to more than 27,000 acres in that period, and organic grapes went from 9,500 acres to more than 15,000 acres. The USDA, Risk Management Agency (RMA) offers various types of crop insurance for farmers through the Federal Crop Insurance Program (FCIP) to protect against production or revenue loss.
Organic commodities have generally commanded a higher price than their conventional counterparts, and in 2014 RMA began expanding the availability of prices that reflect the actual value of the insured crop. Eligible organic growers were then able to choose separate, higher organic price elections under their policy, and insured acres grew. RMA significantly increased the number of available organic policies, offering 84 distinct organic price elections by 2021.
Apples and grapes are the two organic fruit crops with the most acreage covered under the program. In 2021, the United States harvested more than 31,000 acres of organic apples and more than 42,000 acres of organic grapes. In that same year, more than 27,000 planted acres of organic apples were insured, and more than 15,000 planted acres of organic grapes were insured. In 2021, these and other specialty crops accounted for 25 percent of the value of U.S. crop production.
In 2022, RMA increased protection and flexibility with the Transitional and Organic Grower Assistance Program, which provides 10 percentage points of premium subsidy for all crops transitioning to organic production, and Whole-Farm Revenue Protection policies covering transitioning or certified organic crops. This chart appears in the Economic Research Service bulletin Specialty Crop Participation in Federal Risk Management Programs, published in September 2022.
For more information:
Shanon Raszap
USDA
Tel.: +1 202-690-0050
[email protected]