What You Should Know About the New Grapevine Insurance Program from USDA

Posted by Growing Produce Staff|August 30, 2023

USDA has announced it is expanding crop insurance options with a new grapevine insurance program, which will provide coverage for loss of grafted vines caused by natural perils such as freeze or fire. The new program also will complement the grape crop insurance program that covers the fruit growing on the vine.

“We are always striving to offer the strongest risk management resources for our nation’s agricultural producers—sometimes by improving an already existing product or identifying a gap in crop insurance options and creating a new product like this one for grapevine,” says Marcia Bunger, Administrator for USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA). “A program like this is especially critical when you realize the loss of fruit can affect a grower for a season, but the loss of a grapevine is a much more costly situation, both in money and the time it takes to reestablish a productive vine. This is one of the strongest reasons producers were requesting coverage possibilities like this grapevine insurance program — and we listened.”

The grapevine insurance program is based on the Tree Based Dollar Amount of Insurance (TDO) Plan and includes an Occurrence Loss Option that provides coverage for smaller losses, at an additional premium, for producers with buy-up coverage.

It is classified as a “mortality policy,” paying losses when the vine is dead or so badly damaged it will not recover in the following 12 months. The program covers freeze, fire, hail, flood, and failure of the irrigation water supply caused by an unavoidable, naturally occurring event. Producers using freeze protection practices in their operation that are recognized by industry experts can also benefit from lower premium costs under the program.