Nursery Crop Insurance Recordkeeping

Nursery crop insurance is available in all states to all persons operating nurseries and who grow and market nursery plants. At least 40 percent of the nursery’s gross income must be derived from the wholesale marketing of plants. Your nursery must be inspected by your AIP and approved as acceptable before insurance coverage can begin.

You qualify for nursery crop insurance if you grow nursery plants that meet these requirements:

• Are on the Eligible Plant List on RMA’s Web site at https://www.rma.usda.gov;
• Are grown in a county for which a premium rate is provided in the actuarial documents;
• Are irrigated unless otherwise provided by the Special Provisions of Insurance;
• Are grown in accordance with the production practices for which premium rates have been established;
• Are grown in an appropriate medium;
• Are grown and sold with the root system attached;
• Are not stock plants or plants being grown solely for the harvest of buds, flowers or greenery;
• May produce edible fruits or nuts provided the plants are made available for sale (harvest of the edible fruit or nuts does not affect insurability); and
• Are not produced in nursery containers containing two or more different genera, species, subspecies, varieties, or cultivars.

You must be prepared to provide acceptable records and supporting documentation in support of the inventory values reported on your PIVR. Acceptable records and supporting documentation may include, but are not limited to:

• A detailed plant inventory listing that includes the name, the number, and the size of each plant;
• Acceptable records may also include: 

• Sales of plants (e.g., sales receipts) for the crop year;
• Purchases of plants (e.g., purchase receipts) for the crop year;
• Costs associated with propagation for the crop year, if you propagate plants (e.g., input costs and planting records);
• Evidence of your ability to properly obtain and maintain nursery stock.

The Nursery Crop Insurance Provisions only allow a basic unit structure. Basic units may be established by your share or they may be further divided into additional basic units by 1) each insurable plant type or 2) non-contiguous land depending on the level of coverage - additional level of coverage or Catastrophic (CAT) level of coverage - you elect. Optional units are not allowed.

If you elect an additional level of coverage for one or both of the practices (container grown or field grown), you can elect basic units by share, elect basic units within the practice by plant type or elect basic units within the practice by non-contiguous land. There are 15 plant types for container grown and 12 plant types for field grown. You may elect different coverage levels for each basic unit.

If you elect CAT level of coverage for one or both practices, each practice is limited to one basic unit. For example, if you insure your field grown practice and your container grown practice under the CAT level of coverage, you will have two basic units: one basic unit for your field grown practice and one basic unit for your container grown practice.

Note: You may insure your container grown plants under the additional level of coverage and field grown plants under the CAT level of coverage, or vice versa.