A Practical Guide to Organic Crop Insurance

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Event Date
Diciembre 12, 2019

Join the CCOF Foundation and the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) for a webinar that provides a practical introduction to Whole Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP), a crop insurance option for diversified organic farms, ranches, and some hemp operations. In this webinar you will learn what information you need to apply for WFRP, assess if this crop insurance product is right for your farming operation, and learn how the documentation you keep for organic certification can support your application.

Crop insurance is just one of many tools to manage the risks of an organic farming business. A federally subsidized insurance policy known as WFRP provides new opportunities for organic farmers to obtain insurance coverage for crops, livestock, and animal products in any county of the nation. WFRP also provides premium discounts for operations that produce multiple crops or livestock products, making it a good option for diversified organic farms.

During this webinar, Jeff Schahczenski and Ann Baier from NCAT will walk participants through the steps involved in getting a crop insurance quote, which can be used to assess the feasibility, costs, and benefits of buying federal crop insurance. Then, they will highlight the crop yield and revenue records you may need to apply for WFRP. You’ll learn how to make use of your organic certification records and documents to collect some of this data.

This webinar is ideal for farmers who want to understand WFRP’s opportunities, limitations, and paperwork requirements in order to determine if crop insurance may be right for their farm. While WFRP is open to all farmers and ranchers, operations that grow on contract, sell to wholesale, or earn the majority of their income from three to seven crops or livestock products (i.e., eggs, milk, beef, etc.) may be best suited to meet the recordkeeping requirements of WFRP.

About Our Speakers

Jeff Schahczenski serves as an agriculture and natural resource economist in the National Center for Appropriate Technology office in Butte, Montana. Schahczenski has been working with the whole farm approach to insuring farms for 14 years. While improvements to Whole Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP) are still being made, it provides a great way to incentivize crop and livestock diversity and thus promote more sustainable agriculture. Before moving to Montana, Schahczenski worked for Rutgers University, started one of the first Community Supported Agriculture farms in New Jersey, received graduate degrees in agricultural economics and political science, served in the Peace Corps in Belize, and worked on his grandfather's dairy farm in his native Wisconsin.

Ann Baier is an organic and sustainable agriculture specialist with the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT), working with the ATTRA Project, also known as the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service. She has also worked as an organic inspector for CCOF and other certifiers since 2000, inspecting organic farms, livestock operations, and processing facilities to National Organic Program and international organic standards. Baier holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Lewis and Clark College and master’s degree in international agriculture development with specialization in agronomy from the University of California, Davis. She has lived and worked with farmers in Central and South America, as well as the Salinas and Central Valleys of California.

About Our Partners

National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) is a private nonprofit organization established in 1976 that has been serving economically disadvantaged people by providing information and access to appropriate technologies that can help improve their lives. NCAT manages projects focusing on sustainable and renewable energy, sustainable community development, and sustainable agriculture through the ATTRA project.

California FarmLink links independent farmers and ranchers to the land and financing they need for a sustainable future.

USDA RMA: This webinar is funded in partnership by USDA, Risk Management Agency (RMA), under award number RMRM18RMEPP522C004.