Crop insurance covers snow damage for nursery growers

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Three years ago heavy snows caused millions of dollars in losses for nursery producers.
The losses could have been minimized, or even completely recovered, if those nursery producers had invested in crop insurance coverage.
In fact, your evergreens can be covered as separate units. So if you are concerned with snow damage, your insurance can focus on the plantings most likely to suffer under heavy snow.
There are a variety of buy-up coverage options which allow producers to choose different coverage levels for different types of plants. Producers can also increase the amounts of protection during high value times of the year.
Crop insurance can even cover the costs of rehabilitating field grown plants after storm damage. Nursery producers know that they have different risk exposures with different types of plants.
With buy-up levels of coverage, producers can get different coverage levels on 14 different types of plants.
The plant categories available for individual nursery crop insurance in Maryland are: Annuals; broadleaf evergreen trees; broadleaf evergreen shrubs; coniferous evergreen trees; coniferous evergreen shrubs; deciduous shrubs; deciduous trees (shade and flower); fruit and nut trees; foliage; ground cover and vines; herbaceous perennials; roses; small fruits; and liners.
The price election is limited to 100 percent of the price election for all plant types in the practice and is used to determine the amount of insurance and any indemnity.
A $30 administrative fee is required.
For increased coverage during certain periods when your inventory value may be significantly higher than the annual plant inventory value, you may want to consider a Peak Inventory Endorsement. An example might be poinsettias in November and December.
Another feature is the Rehabilitation Endorsement. It applies to field grown plants and provides labor and material costs for pruning and setup (righting, propping, and staking after storms).
Again, this is only available at buy-up levels of coverage.