Crop Insurance by Written Agreement for Apple Orchards in Iowa

Learn the timelines to report and apply for insurance, and the recordkeeping and other requirements to gain crop loss protection.

• Phil Larabee’s mother-in-law, Diane Gravert, owns Gravert’s Apple Basket Orchard near Sabula, Iowa, which is managed by Phil’s wife, Laura. The orchard lost 100 percent of its crop in 2005, and more than 50 percent in 2006, both due to late-spring freezes. Phil saw a need for risk management and applied his skills as a licensed insurance agent to successfully insure the orchard’s apple crop, which has been insured since 2009. While apples are federally insurable in the U.S., coverage is not available in Iowa – but Phil obtained insurance by Written Agreement, a USDA Risk Management Agency document designed to provide crop insurance for insurable crops when coverage or rates are unavailable.