Montana Organic Association 17th Annual Conference and Business Meeting

Since the 2000 Agricultural Risk Protection Act (ARPA), federal crop insurance programs directed to organic and diversified producers have expanded in terms of liability, policies, and coverage. In spite of this growth, participation in crop insurance, relative to conventional producers, remains low. Understanding gaps in the utilization of crop insurance for these groups are critical to investigate in order to better focus current education programs and inform farm policy. To solicit input from producers of organic and diversified crop production systems, we developed a national survey, in cooperation with the OREI, to learn more about this group’s risk management and production practices. Results from this survey provide direct insights into the barriers preventing further increases in crop insurance participation among these products, as well as how they can potentially be overcome. Under the current crop insurance programs, there is a disconnect between organic production and organic certification that we can better understand through this analysis.