See the important things to consider for citrus crop insurance according to a UF/IFAS associate professor and Extension economist.
“Between the 2021–22 and 2023–24 citrus seasons, Florida orange growers were more likely to receive indemnity payments under the Actual Production History (APH) crop insurance policy compared to the Dollar Amount policy. Moreover, when indemnities were paid, the APH policy provided a higher average payout,” shared a UF/IFAS Tip of the Week article. However, will APH continue to be the best choice for Florida citrus growers in the coming years? The article looked at three important considerations for Florida citrus crop insurance. See them below.
Three Considerations for Citrus Crop Insurance
- Yield History. The article advised that “First, APH standards include a procedure for testing the grower’s yield history for a downward trend. If the conditions for this test are met, and the adjustment is triggered, the grower’s APH yield will be reduced by 20%.”
- Minimum Production Requirement. “Second, there is a minimum production requirement for acreage to be insurable under APH. Currently, blocks that are at least eight years old must have produced at least 100 boxes per acre in one of the three previous seasons. There is an ongoing discussion that the requirement will be lowered to 75 boxes per acre. If a block does not meet the requirement, a request could be submitted to Risk Management Agency (RMA) to obtain coverage. However, in such cases, the determined yield may not exceed 80% of the average yield for the APH database.”
- Net Indemnities. “Third, due to the continued negative impact of HLB on Florida citrus yield, the net indemnities under APH are decreasing over time. This is because premium rates are increasing and APH yield is decreasing.”
The article advised that “Looking ahead to future seasons, some growers may have blocks that either trigger the downward trend test adjustment or fail to meet the RMA’s minimum production requirement. In both cases, the grower’s APH yield would be reduced by 20%, which will make any potential APH net indemnities significantly smaller, if any.”
With the crop insurance sales closing date of November 1st looming, “growers are encouraged to carefully evaluate their own APH databases to determine the optimal APH coverage level for their groves in future seasons.”
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