Availability of insurance for these crops will vary by county and by the commodity grown. Coverage against these perils is provided as a unit-production guarantee. The unit-production guarantee is converted to dollars of protection by a price election selected by the insured when the policy is purchased. The price election is not a guarantee of market prices. In Florida, citrus production is very important to the overall economy of the state.
Citrus is a high-value crop with relatively high production costs.
Florida produces over 55 commodities, with receipts of over one million dollars which includes eight or nine citrus type commodities. 1999 Florida Agriculture Receipts Crop losses are attributed to diverse weather factors in the United States. The breakdown shown in Figure 2 illustrates that drought is the most prevalent weather problem in the nation. In Florida, freeze damage is the leading weather problem that causes crop loss, with drought being second. The fruit tree insurance program began as a pilot program in five counties of Florida, which has now been extended to 29 counties in the state.