The Risk Management Safety Net: Market Penetration and Potential

VII. Market Penetration for Fruits/Nuts and Vegetables

Market Penetration of Fruits and Nuts

Specialty crop products have been a strong priority since the 1996 Farm Bill, and market penetration for fruit and nut crops encompassed 74 percent of their market potential in 2015.

Fairly substantial changes in acreage occurred between 2011 and 2015 in fruit and nut crops. The most significant change was that acreage in grapes more than doubled across the U.S., with nearly 1 million acres added, while insured acres increased slightly. Acres in almonds increased by 17 percent, up 130,000 acres, with a nearly equal increase of 16 percent in insured acres. Walnut acres, similar to that of almonds, rose by 55,000 acres in 2015, up 22 percent from 2011, while insured acres rose 19 percent.

U.S. acres in cherries increased by 51 percent with insured acres also rising by 41 percent from 2011 to 2015. Acres grown for oranges decreased by 7 percent in 2015 compared to 2011, with insured acres decreasing 11 percent.

Fruit and nut market penetration is shown in the following table:

Market Penetration for Vegetables

U.S. vegetable market penetration was 34 percent in 2015, up slightly from 2011. Historically, vegetable producers have not indicated specific interest in individual crop insurance programs and at times have communicated preference for no development of a specific program. However, there has been interest in the Whole-Farm Revenue Protection insurance that began in 2015 and recently it appears there may be some interest in expanding the opportunities for vegetable insurance.

While the number of NASS vegetable estimates are limited, only two categories showed U.S. acreage increases from 2011 to 2015, green peas, increasing 12 percent, and tomatoes increasing 15 percent. Insured acres for green peas increased 14 percent while tomato acreage insured increased 13 percent. The U.S. acres for fresh market beans decreased 26 percent, however insured acres increased 68 percent, likely due to increased usage of the Fresh Market Bean policy which was new in 2011. Onion acreage across the U.S. also decreased 7 percent in 2015 compared to 2011, however insured acres increased 11 percent for that same time period.

Vegetable crop market penetration is shown in the following table:

Contact Information

For more information, contact RMA Public Affairs.