Floriculture Archives - California Agriculture News Today

Greater Crop Insurance Protection Now Offered for Fruit, Vegetable and Specialty Crop Growers

Greater crop insurance protection is now available for crops that traditionally have been ineligible for federal crop insurance. New provisions under Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program will provide greater coverage for losses when natural disasters affect specialty crops such as vegetables, fruits, mushrooms, floriculture, ornamental nursery, aquaculture, turf grass, ginseng, honey, syrup and energy crops.

“For years, commodity crop farmers have had the ability to purchase insurance to keep their crops protected, and it only makes sense that fruit and vegetable, and other specialty crop growers, should be able to purchase similar levels of protection,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

Previously, the program offered coverage at 55 percent of the average market price for crop losses that exceed 50 percent of expected production. Producers can now choose higher levels of crop insurance coverage, up to 65 percent of their expected production at 100 percent of the average market price.

California Leads Nation in Floriculture Production – From the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service

California’s floriculture crop leads the nation with a value of $1.13 billion in sales, according to a new report from the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).

In 2013, California producers increased their sales from $1.10 billion to $1.13 billion, an increase of 3 percent, giving California 26.6 percent of the total U.S. wholesale value.

California cut flower production accounts for 78.2 percent of the total cut flower wholesale value. The $327 million value was down 2.7 percent from the 2012 value of $337 million.

California leads the nation in potted flowering plant values for 2013 with a total value of $297 million, a 17 percent increase in value from $253 million in 2012. California potted flowering production accounted for 38 percent of the 15-state wholesale value.

The top cut flowers in California are lilies, daisies, roses, chrysanthemums and snapdragons. The top potted flowers are orchids, roses, poinsettias, spring bulbs and chrysanthemums. The top garden plants are vegetable varieties, pansies/violas, petunias, impatiens and marigolds.