Page 57 - GrapevineMarApr 2022

Around The Vineyard

in up to three years. If you purchase a vineyard that ing or use of the final product, are controlled by one
has been producing you can transfer that produc- person, or by different persons that are related.”-
tion history. You must have records or some way to CIH If the entity that owns the vineyard is a winery,
prove that history though. The database can only then they would be vertically integrated. Even if
be set up as far as you have production records they sell some of the grapes to other wineries. If
to prove the yields. Production records are not you own a vineyard and are partners in a winery
required at the time you sign up for crop insurance and you sell the grapes to that winery you could be
or at production or acreage reporting times. But it vertically integrated as well.
can come up during a claim or a review.
Let’s move on to insurability of the grapes. Vines
Here’s what the 2022 Crop Insurance Handbook need to be in their 4th growing season for the
says about grape production records: grapes to be insurable. A minimum of 4 years is
“Settlement sheets, sales receipts, machine harvest needed to do the average, if the grapes have just
records, certified scale records, pick records and become insurable then a T-Yield, as mentioned
final or year-end statements from a winery, cannery before, is used in place of any missing years.
or processor must indicate net paid tons of Grapes
delivered by variety. Converting gallons of wine Usually, the third growing season after being
to tons of grapes does not qualify as acceptable grafted is considered insurable. The vines must
records.” have produced an average of at least two tons
per acre in at least one of the three preceding
It is especially important to keep good records if crop years. There can be exceptions to this rule.
the grower is “vertically integrated.” “A producer is Sometimes there are other requirements located in
vertically integrated when all stages of production the “Special Provisions” for that particular county.
of a crop, from acquisition of materials to the retail- In California the USDA Davis Regional Office (DRO)

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