Crop Insurance Meeting

October 28, 2015


The Lake Erie Regional Grape Program (LERGP) will be holding a series of meetings to educate local growers interested in crop insurance. Crop insurance has become a significant risk management tool for area growers, particularly specialty crop growers like grapes. Currently over 70% of grape growers rely on crop insurance as a risk management tool in Chautauqua County.As a result of the 2014 Farm Bill, significant changes have been made to the federal crop insurance program. The timing of the changes did not allow for many grape growers to adjust their crop insurance in 2015 but many should use LERGP educational offerings and their insurance agents to prepare a more robust risk management strategy for 2016.For growers without crop insurance, LERGP would like to encourage many area growers to reconsider crop insurance. Low prices, tight margins and increasing weather volatility have resulted in disasters on sites not normally accustomed to seeing disasters. With these evolving market conditions it is not possible for growers with debt to assume all weather related risks in our region and expect to run a sustainable vineyard for the long term.