Grapes

Grapes are insurable if the vines:

• Have reached the fourth growing season after being set out; or
• Have reached the third season after grafting for all varieties.

Many varieties of grapes are listed for each county. You must insure all your acreage of a particular variety in a county at the same coverage level. However, one variety can be insured and not another. For example, you could insure all your Chardonnay and none of your Merlot vineyards.

Grapes are insurable in Alameda, Amador, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Kern, Kings, Lake, Madera, Marin, Mendocino, Merced, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Riverside, Sacramento, San Benito, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Tulare, and Yolo counties. Grapes in other counties may be insurable by written agreement if specific criteria are met. Contact a crop insurance agent for more details.

You are protected against the following:

• Adverse weather conditions;
• Earthquake;
• Failure of irrigation water supply, if caused by an insured peril during the insurance year;
• Fire;
• Insects or plant disease, but not damage due to insufficient or improper application of control measures;
• Volcanic eruption; or
• Wildlife.

To insure the crop you plan to harvest this year, you must apply for coverage with a crop insurance agent before January 31. Insurance coverage begins in February for vineyards that haven’t been insured before and ends the earlier of the date harvest ends, or November 10.

Sales Closing/Cancellation………… January 31, 2016

Acreage Reporting………… May 15, 2016

Premium Billing………… August 15, 2016

Termination………… January 31, 2017

The price used to calculate your premium and Indemnity. Price elections vary by variety and county. Contact a crop insurance agent for current information.

Coverage levels range from 50 to 85 percent of your approved yield. Crop insurance premiums are subsidized as shown in the following table. For example, if you choose the 65 percent coverage level, your premium share would be 41 percent of the base premium.

Catastrophic Risk Protection (CAT) coverage is fixed at 50 percent of your approved yield and 55 percent of the price election. CAT is 100 percent subsidized with no premium cost to you. There is, however, an administrative fee of $300 per crop per county, regardless of the acreage.

Assume 65 percent coverage, 100 percent price election of $550 per ton, an average yield of 6 tons per acre, Chardonnay variety in San Joaquin county, and 100 percent share.

Price used above is for example only. Contact a crop insurance agent for current information.

All multi-peril crop insurance, including CAT policies, are available from private insurance agents. A list of crop insurance agents is available at all USDA service centers and on the RMA website.