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Around The Vineyard

puts out Informational Memorandums that lay out for. Even if a particular variety is not listed it can be
specific requirements for the state of California. insured. There are Types/Practices for each county
These differ from other growing regions in the US. that list out specific varieties and also make allow-
You are able to make higher yield requests that can ance for others. For example, it may list Cabernet
be approved by the DRO. Sauvignon, Chenin Blanc, Gewurztraminer,
Grenache, Cabernet Franc and so on. If a particular
Grape crop insurance is available in the following variety is not listed it can be most often insured
states; Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, under “Other Varieties”, “Other White Varieties” or
Idaho, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, “Other Red/Pink Varieties.”
Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New
Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Having a lot of varieties that are not specifically
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia and listed causes these different varieties to be lumped
Washington. Crop insurance is not available for together in the database. This can cause problems
grapes in all counties in each state though. For a if you have varieties that yield differently. But this
list of insurable counties, you can look at the RMA’s is still better than not having any coverage at all.
website at rma.usda.gov or contact your agent. Any coverage is better than no coverage as can be
Even though there may be differences between attested by many growers in California a couple
AVAs in a given county, the insurability, prices, pre- years ago during the wildfires.
miums are set by county not AVA.
It may happen that your production is low in
Insurable varieties are also different between particular year. You might have had a claim paid
states and counties. The varieties are usually set or not, but what about your database and aver-
by what has been being grown in that county or age going down? This isn’t good. You may elect
what a particular climate in a state/county allows an optional endorsement when you sign up called

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