Crop Insurance A Necessity For California Farmers As Drought Disaster Rolls On
SUTTER COUNTY (CBS13) — Farmers are taking unprecedented steps to protect their crops and their livelihoods from California's drought with crop insurance.
To understand why Dan Silva took out crop insurance on his prunes and walnuts for the first time ever, you have to understand the perilous position farmers find themselves in.
"This thing is getting to be—it's making me very nervous," he said. "I think we're at the precipice of being critical. Very critical."
He says the state's dwindling water supply, put into sharp focus by Wednesday's nonexistent snow survey, is pushing California's agriculture industry to the brink of catastrophe.
Silva decided against planting alfalfa and wheat this season. The lifelong farmer predicts if the drought persists, crops like tomatoes and alfalfa may at least be temporarily wiped out statewide because there isn't enough water to go around.
It's against that increasingly worrisome backdrop that Dan is plopping down about $45,000 on crop insurance.
"When you look at what it's worth, it's like shaking the dice," he said.
Hoping for a return to normal rainfall isn't a gamble he can afford to take. And he isn't alone.
"It wasn't common before, but it's very common now," he said.
According to an article from industry newspaper Ag Alert, crop insurance policies span nearly seven million acres, and protect $7.6 billion in crops. In today's farming industry in California, it's less about thriving, and more a matter of how to survive.
"If it's long term, if it goes on for another year or two, it could be devastating—tragically devastating to agriculture," he said. "Billions of dollars, and a trickle-down effect in the economy."
