Maine apple growers hurt by 50% losses, insurance disparities

On November 14, apples from Riker Hill Orchards in Green remained unpicked. Farm president Andy Ricker said the apples were hit by frost in the spring and then several hailstorms. Crop losses meant that the cost of picking was greater than the value of the apples, so the apples were left on the trees. Darrin Slover/Sun Journal

For Turner-based apple grower Andy Ricker, it took only a few months to make 2023 a year to forget. A sudden freeze in late May destroyed the emerging apple blossoms in central and western Maine, including much of the Ricker family’s crop. To make matters worse, the remaining apple crop was damaged by severe hailstorms in July and August.

“Normally for storms like this, you’re counting the percentage of your apples that have been affected by hail,” said Ricker, president of Ricker Hill Orchards. “This year, we were counting the number of hits per apple.”

Maine’s apple growers are suffering their worst harvest in more than a decade. Between severe crop losses and wet weather that has kept customers at home during peak apple picking season, some local growers are struggling to make ends meet through the winter. Many are counting on federal crop insurance claims to offset some of this year’s losses, but the paperwork and potential changes to the structure of crop insurance policies are causing some producers to doubt how much they can rely on federal aid. Can.

According to the Maine Pomological Society, Maine’s orchards produce more than one million bushels of apples per year. Many of the state’s 84 apple growers are family-run farms that earn a large portion of their income through agritourism, such as pick-your-own apples.

“This is one of the worst (apple) years for the state of Maine,” said Jeremy Foret, vice president of Crop Growers LLP, a licensed crop insurance agency operating throughout the Northeast. “I would say we typically have these types of severe (weather) events about once every 10 years.”

According to Rene Morin, professor of pomology at the University of Maine, Maine’s apple crop yield this year was about 50% below the historical average. Morin said the financial loss would exceed 50% because many of the apples that were left to be harvested were damaged by hail and sent to cider presses, which is less profitable.

This year’s small harvest is threatening to put at least one local orchard out of business. Jennifer Barker’s son purchased a small, previously inaccessible orchard in Lewiston during the pandemic, and the family reopened it as Honey Hill Orchard in 2021. But the total loss of this year’s crop prevented Honey Hill from opening at all, and it’s forcing Barker to consider it. Closing for good.

Penny Brann packs Honeycrisp apples at Turner’s Riker Hill Orchards on Nov. 14. Apples go through a grading process before being delivered to the supermarket. Honeycrisp apples were a day behind schedule when a late spring frost hit the orchard, preventing damage to other apple varieties. Darrin Slover/Sun Journal

“(The late May frost) destroyed everything that had already bloomed,” Barker said. “We didn’t even open it. And honestly, I don’t know if we’ll do that or not.”

For nearly a century, the federal government has subsidized crop insurance policies to help farmers stay afloat during poor crop years. The U.S. Department of Agriculture works with a national network of 13 approved crop insurance agents to provide tailored coverage plans for dozens of crops, including apples. According to USDA data, eighty-two percent of Maine’s eligible apple acreage is insured.

Taxpayer-supported crop insurance has long been considered a vital program to help farmers weather bad weather years. Since apple trees still need to be maintained even if they do not produce fruit in a given season, many growers rely on insurance policies to cover essential operating costs if they are to make enough money from selling their crops. Don’t earn.

“In a loss year, when a farmer has no crop or a poor crop, the expenses don’t stop,” said Devon Smolak, crop insurance agent with Auburn-based Farm Credit East. “They have to take care of the crop picking, or the crop that is left. They will have to pay salaries to their staff. And (crop insurance) helps them get to a place where they can try again next year and not go completely bankrupt.”

However, not all farmers sign up. Some Maine apple growers prefer to set aside money for every crop and dip into that savings to cover expenses in a bad year, rather than go through the hassle of paying premiums and filing claims.

“Crop insurance is a safety net. It will never compensate for a good crop,” said John Clements, a fruit tree industry expert at the University of Massachusetts who works with apple growers in New England. “And like any other type of insurance, it is not mandatory. “Some growers don’t buy crop insurance.”

Gathering Winds Farm in Poland lost 100% of its apple crop due to cold in May, forcing the owner Stacey Basulak Closing the garden for the season. Basulak, who had insured his crop, contacted his agent and immediately started filing claims. Basulak’s policy required her to continue spraying and mowing her crop in order to receive the insurance payout, even though she knew she would have zero apples to show for it.

“We actually maintained (our apple crop) throughout the season, which was difficult and costly for our farm,” Basulak said. “Crop insurance will help cover that portion of our expenses for the agricultural year. I believe it is in the process of being checked and will be returned to us in the next few weeks. So you wait the whole year, even if your crop is ruined in May.”

Heather Henley pours a pint of apple cider into a can at Turner’s Riker Hill Orchards on Nov. 14. Due to damage to apples this year, more apples than usual were turned into cider. Riker Hill Cider is sold throughout Maine and parts of New England. Darrin Slover/Sun Journal

For Apple Insurance agents and policyholders of Maine, right now is the busiest time of the year. Soon after the harvest season ends, growers begin filing claims and insurance adjusters personally visit farms to verify crop losses reported by growers. The deadline to select coverage for next year’s crop is at the end of this month, so growers will need to decide about getting a policy for next year at that time.

“I don’t think I know enough about insurance to get paid as much as we should, because the paperwork is so confusing,” said Harry Ricker, Andy Ricker’s father, who books books for the family garden. Let’s manage, said. “And I don’t know whether I will be able to pay the premium next year because we have lost a lot of money this year. …I think I’m going really low (in terms of coverage).”

The USDA is currently considering making changes to the crop insurance plan as a part of the Farm Bill coming through Congress. According to Foret, over the past five years, for every $100 Maine apple growers paid in crop insurance premiums, they have received payments of $116. The USDA is under pressure to close that gap: Over the past decade, the National Crop Insurance Program has cost nearly $100 billion, most of which is borne by taxpayers.

“The federal crop insurance program has been running a deficit for some time. …It’s not very durable. No insurance company can lose money by staying in business, right?” Clement said. “I’d say they’re trying to tighten the ropes a little bit. Unfortunately, it’s going to suit those big producers Those who produce more in bulk, like in New York or Washington. When you sell apples at a really high price, as we do in the Northeast, because we have a local market, it doesn’t make sense. Is. This is potentially a problem.”

Unlike the large commercial farms that dominate the national apple industry, many of Maine’s orchards generate their income through agritourism. Libby & Sons U-Pix in Limerick grows apples on 18 acres and sells them all directly to consumers who come to the farm, rather than selling in bulk. Owner Aaron Libby said the May freeze destroyed much of his crop, including 80% of his Honeycrisp apples.

The insurance process for orchards like Libby’s is more complicated. All farms will have to submit detailed documentation of to whom they sold their apples and at what price. This means that pick-your-own farms must keep painstakingly detailed transaction logs to keep track of thousands of customers buying just a few pounds of apples during the fall season. To Libby, it’s just not worth it.

“We have been unable to get crop insurance. …It’s not really set up to choose your own setup. It’s too much for wholesale,” Libby said. “It is not suitable for us. It’s not really designed for a small, diversified farm.

“Most (New England) apple growers are also required to sell their apples directly to the consumer through a farm stand or U-pick outlet,” a USDA spokesperson wrote in a statement to the Sun Journal. “New England has a strong local foods market, and apples are an important part of the region’s culture. …As a result, they are often running two businesses simultaneously: an orchard and a marketing outlet. This presents recordkeeping and other administrative challenges.

Despite the difficulties, Maine apple growers already have their sights set on next year.

“Apple growers are always optimistic,” Morin said. “They have already planted their crops. With this one bad year, they are ready to move on and start thinking about next year’s harvest.

On November 14, apples from Riker Hill Orchards in Green remained unpicked. Farm president Andy Ricker said the apples were hit by frost in the spring and then several hailstorms. Crop losses meant that the cost of picking was greater than the value of the apples, so the apples were left on the trees. Darrin Slover/Sun Journal

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