Should I Open Up a Claim?

By: Trevor Troyer, Agricultural Risk Management

When to open up a claim on your grape crop insurance is important. A lot of growers say that don’t know if they have a payable loss early in the season. With grape crop insurance you are covering an average of your production per grape variety. Depending on what coverage level you have chosen this could mean you have a large deductible or small one. I agree it is hard to tell how much early season damage will affect tons harvested.

Mid May this year there was a bad freeze/frost event in the Finger Lakes region of New York.

While late spring frosts are not uncommon, this one was really bad. There was widespread damage to grape vines across the Finger Lakes. The extent of the damage is not fully known at this time. But there will be a reduction in the tons harvested this year for sure.

In a situation like the above a claim should be opened immediately. More than likely, due to the severity of the frost, an adjuster will come out and inspect the vineyard. I always tell growers that they should take pictures of the frost damage that morning. It is always good to document damage as close to the time it occurred as possible.

It may be that some varieties of grapes show more damage than others. This is to be expected as some are more resistant to cold. And from what I have seen over the years with frost and freezes is that it doesn’t affect a vineyard or field evenly. You might have more damage on one side of the vineyard or more damage on the lowest part of the blocks etc. Damage varies but just because one variety or one area looks better than others doesn’t mean that you should not open a claim on that variety or block.

I know that secondary and tertiary buds will emerge in the next few days or weeks after a freeze. You should open up a claim now regardless. The damage may be less than you think and you don’t end up having a payable claim. But it is still best to get one opened up right away. Don’t wait to see how many tons you harvest before opening a claim!

Here is an excerpt from the “How to File a Crop Insurance Claim” Fact Sheet from the USDA:

Most policies state that you (the insured) should notify your agent within 72 hours of discovery of crop damage. As a practical matter, you should always contact your agent immediately when you discover crop damage.

That same night in May, that saw the frost/freeze in the Finger Lakes region, also saw damage to vineyards along the coast of Lake Erie. I received calls and emails from growers stating that they had had frost as well. Obviously, the damage was not as bad as the Finger Lakes, but frost on new buds is not something any vineyard owner wants to see. I opened claims for all of them even though the extent of the damage was not known.

I cannot stress enough the importance of opening up a claim early.

A lot of claims with grapes are relatively routine. Once the claim is opened an adjuster will come out and document the damage. You will continue to grow your crop and try to mitigate any damage received. Once you harvest grapes you will meet with the adjuster and give him your production records that show your tonnage per variety. He will then adjust the claim based your guarantee (aver-