About Risk Management

The Vermont Department of Agriculture, Food &Markets has recently added Louise Waterman, to its team as a Risk Management Education Specialist. Waterman will be designing, developing and implementing a risk management education program with funds from USDAs Risk Management Agency.

Federally subsidized crop insurance programs have changed dramatically. One area the program will focus on will be to increase Vermont farmers’ understanding of and participation in crop insurance programs as a production risk tool. A number of farmers in Vermont have begun to invest in crop insurance. In 2000, more than 54% of the state’s corn crop was covered with some type of crop insurance. Crop insurance programs are administered by the USDA Risk Management Agency.

Although polices are purchased through private insurance companies, the rates are subsidized by the USDA to make policies more affordable for farmers. Crop insurance programs cover an array of crops but Vermont farmers have so far only made wide use of programs for corn silage and apples. Some farmers have made minimal use of insurance for sweet corn. Programs are available for barley and wheat but these are rarely used because of the few acres of these crops in Vermont. Other programs that are eligible for coverage in Vermont are forage seeding and forage production.

These programs are not widely used but could provide some valuable coverage for Vermont farmers. There is added value that comes from using several risk management tools together in one organized strategy. Connections are found in the combination of production risk tools with marketing, financial and human resource tools. We will provide educational opportunities in all these areas of risk management.

Our objective is to increase agricultural producer’s knowledge of major areas of risk and the tools available to manage these risks. The focus will be on identifying risk management needs and integrating tools and strategies to meet these needs into producer business plans and personal objectives. By working together with agribusiness leaders and agricultural educators we can achieve our goal of offering invaluable risk management tools for helping Vermont agriculture grow and prosper.

For more information on this program, contact Louise Waterman, Risk Management Education Coordinator, at (802) 828-6900 or e-mail waterman@agr.state.vt.us

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