457.111—Pear crop insurance provisions.
The Pear Crop Insurance Provisions for the 2011 and succeeding crop years are as follows:
FCIC Policies
Department of Agriculture
Federal Crop Insurance Corporation
Reinsured Policies
(Appropriate title for insurance provider)
Both FCIC and Reinsured Policies
Pear Crop Provisions
1. Definitions
Direct marketing. Sale of the insured crop directly to consumers without the intervention of an intermediary such as a wholesaler, retailer, packer, processor, shipper, or buyer. Examples of direct marketing include selling through an on-farm or roadside stand, farmer's market, and permitting the general public to enter the field for the purpose of picking all or a portion of the crop.
Harvest. The picking of mature pears from the trees or the collecting of marketable pears from the ground.
Interplanted. Acreage on which two or more crops are planted in any form of alternating or mixed pattern.
Marketable. Pear production acceptable for processing or other human consumption even if failing to meet any U.S. or applicable state grading standard.
Ton. Two thousand (2,000) pounds avoirdupois.
Varietal group. Types of pears with similar characteristics that are grouped for insurance purposes as specified in the Special Provisions.
2. Unit Division
(a) Provisions in the Basic Provision that allow optional units by irrigated and non-irrigated practices are not applicable.
(b) Instead of establishing optional units by section, section equivalents, or FSA farm serial number optional units may be established if each optional unit is located on non-contiguous.
(c) In addition to, or instead of, establishing optional units by section, section equivalents, FSA farm serial number, or on non-contiguous land, optional units may be established by varietal group when provided for in the Special Provisions. The requirements of section 34(b)(1) of the Basic Provisions are not applicable for this method of unit division.
3. Insurance Guarantees, Coverage Levels, and Prices for Determining Indemnities
In addition to the requirements of section 3 (Insurance Guarantees, Coverage Levels, and Prices for Determining Indemnities) of the Basic Provisions (§ 457.8):
(a) You may select only one price election for all the pears in the county insured under this policy unless the Special Provisions provide different price elections by varietal group, in which case you may select one price election for each varietal group designated in the Special Provisions. The price elections you choose for each varietal group must have the same percentage relationship to the maximum price offered by us for each varietal group. For example, if you choose one hundred percent (100%) of the maximum price election for one varietal group, you must also choose one hundred percent (100%) of the maximum price election for all other varietal groups.
(b) You must report, by the production reporting date designated in section 3 (Insurance Guarantees, Coverage Levels, and Prices for Determining Indemnities) of the Basic Provisions (§ 457.8), by varietal group:
(1) Any damage, removal of trees, change in practices or any other circumstance that may reduce the expected yield below the yield upon which the insurance guarantee is based, and the number of affected acres;
(2) The number of bearing trees on insurable and uninsurable acreage;
(3) The age of the trees and the planting pattern; and
(4) For the first year of insurance for acreage interplanted with another perennial crop, and any time the planting pattern of such acreage is changed:
(i) The age of the interplanted crop, and type if applicable;
(ii) The planting pattern; and
(iii) Any other information that we request in order to establish your approved yield. We will reduce the yield used to establish your production guarantee as necessary, based on our estimate of the effect of the following: interplanted perennial crop; removal of trees; damage; change in practices or any other circumstance on the yield potential of the insured crop. If you fail to notify us of any circumstance that may reduce your yields from previous levels, we will reduce your production guarantee as necessary at any time that we become aware of the circumstance.
(c) You may not increase your elected or assigned coverage level or the ratio of your price election to the maximum price election if a cause of loss that could or would reduce the yield of the insured crop has occurred prior to the time that you request the increase.
4. Contract Changes
In accordance with section 4 (Contract Changes) of the Basic Provisions (§ 457.8), the contract change date is October 31 preceding the cancellation date for states with a January 31 cancellation date and August 31 preceding the cancellation date for all other states.
5. Cancellation and Termination Dates
In accordance with section 2 (Life of Policy, Cancellation, and Termination) of the Basic Provisions (§ 457.8), the cancellation and termination dates are:
6. Insured Crop
In accordance with section 8 (Insured Crop) of the Basic Provisions (§ 457.8), the crop insured will be all the pears in the county for which a premium rate is provided by the actuarial documents:
(a) In which you have a share;
(b) That are of varieties adapted to the area;
(c) That are grown on trees that have produced an average of at least five (5) tons of pears per acre in at least one of the four previous crop years unless the Special Provisions or a written agreement establishes a lower production level; and
(d) That are grown in an orchard that, if inspected, is considered acceptable by us.
7. Insurable Acreage
In lieu of the provisions in section 9 (Insurable Acreage) of the Basic Provisions (§ 457.8), that prohibit insurance attaching to a crop planted with another crop, pears interplanted with another perennial crop are insurable unless we inspect the acreage and determine that it does not meet the requirements contained in your policy.
8. Insurance Period
(a) In accordance with the provisions of section 11 (Insurance Period) of the Basic Provisions (§ 457.8):
(1) Coverage begins:
(i) In California, on February 1 of each crop year, except that for the year of application, if your application is received after January 22 but prior to February 1, insurance will attach on the 10th day after your properly completed application is received in our local office, unless we inspect the acreage during the 10 day period and determine that it does not meet insurability requirements. You must provide any information that we require for the crop or to determine the condition of the orchard; or
(ii) In all other states, on November 21 of each crop year, except that for the year of application, if your application is received after November 11 but prior to November 21, insurance will attach on the 10th day after your properly completed application is received in our local office, unless we inspect the acreage during the 10 day period and determine that it does not meet insurability requirements. You must provide any information that we require for the crop or to determine the condition of the orchard.
(2) The calendar date for the end of the insurance period for each crop year is:
(i) September 15 for Bartlett (green and red) and Star Crimson (Crimson Red) varietal groups; or
(ii) October 15 for all other varietal groups.
(b) In addition to the provisions of section 11 (Insurance Period) of the Basic Provisions (§ 457.8):
(1) If you acquire an insurable share in any insurable acreage after coverage begins but on or before the acreage reporting date for the crop year, and after an inspection we consider the acreage acceptable, insurance will be considered to have attached to such acreage on the calendar date for the beginning of the insurance period.
(2) If you relinquish your insurable interest on any insurable acreage of pears on or before the acreage reporting date of any crop year, insurance will not be considered to have attached to, and no premium will be due, and no indemnity paid, for such acreage for that crop year unless:
(i) A transfer of coverage and right to an indemnity, or a similar form approved by us, is completed by all affected parties;
(ii) We are notified by you or the transferee in writing of such transfer on or before the acreage reporting date; and
(iii) The transferee is eligible for crop insurance.
(c) Notwithstanding paragraph (a)(1) of this section, for each subsequent crop year that the policy remains continuously in force, coverage begins on the day immediately following the end of the insurance period for the prior crop year. Policy cancellation that results solely from transferring to a different insurance provider for a subsequent crop year will not be considered a break in continuous coverage.
(d) If your pear policy is canceled or terminated for any crop year, in accordance with the terms of the policy, after insurance attached for that crop year but on or before the cancellation and termination dates whichever is later, insurance will not be considered to have attached for that crop year and no premium, administrative fee, or indemnity will be due for such crop year.
9. Causes of Loss
(a) In accordance with the provisions of section 12 (Causes of Loss) of the Basic Provisions (§ 457.8), insurance is provided only against the following causes of loss that occur within the insurance period:
(1) Adverse weather conditions;
(2) Fire, unless weeds and other forms of undergrowth have not been controlled or pruning debris has not been removed from the orchard;
(3) Earthquake;
(4) Volcanic eruption; or
(5) Failure of the irrigation water supply, if caused by an insured peril that occurs during the insurance period.
(b) In addition to the causes of loss excluded in section 12 (Causes of Loss) of the Basic Provisions (§ 457.8), we will not insure against damage or loss of production due to:
(1) Disease or insect infestation, unless adverse weather:
(i) Prevents the proper application of control measures or causes properly applied control measures to be ineffective; or
(ii) Causes disease or insect infestation for which no effective control mechanism is available.
(2) Failure of the fruit to color properly; or
(3) Inability to market the pears for any reason other than actual physical damage from an insurable cause specified in this section. For example, we will not pay you an indemnity if you are unable to market due to quarantine, boycott, or refusal of any person to accept production.
10. Duties in the Event of Damage or Loss
In addition to the requirements of section 14 (Duties in the Event of Damage or Loss) of the Basic Provisions (§ 457.8), the following will apply:
(a) You must notify us within 3 days of the date harvest should have started if the crop will not be harvested.
(b) You must notify us at least 15 days before any production from any unit will be sold by direct marketing. We will conduct an appraisal that will be used to determine your production to count for production that is sold by direct marketing. If damage occurs after this appraisal, we will conduct an additional appraisal. These appraisals, and any acceptable records provided by you, will be used to determine your production to count. Failure to give timely notice that production will be sold by direct marketing will result in an appraised amount of production to count of not less than the production guarantee per acre if such failure results in our inability to make the required appraisal.
(c) If you intend to claim an indemnity on any unit, you must notify us at least 15 days prior to the beginning of harvest if you previously gave notice in accordance with section 14 of the Basic Provisions (§ 457.8), so that we may inspect the damaged production. You must not sell or dispose of the damaged crop until after we have given you written consent to do so. If you fail to meet the requirements of this section, and such failure results in our inability to inspect the damaged production, all such production will be considered undamaged and included as production to count.
11. Settlement of Claim
(a) We will determine your loss on a unit basis. In the event you are unable to provide separate, acceptable production records:
(1) For any optional unit, we will combine all optional units for which such production records were not provided; or
(2) For any basic unit, we will allocate any commingled production to such units in proportion to our liability on the harvested acreage for each unit.
(b) In the event of loss or damage covered by this policy, we will settle your claim by:
(1) Multiplying the insured acreage for each varietal group if applicable, by its respective production guarantee;
(2) Multiplying the results of section 11(b)(1) by the respective price election for each varietal group, if applicable;
(3) Totaling the results of section 11(b)(2);
(4) Multiplying the total production to be counted of each varietal group, if applicable, by the respective price election;
(5) Totaling the results of section 11(b)(4);
(6) Subtracting this result of section 11(b)(5) from the result of section 11(b)(3); and
(7) Multiplying the result of section 11(b)(6) by your share.
(c) The total production to count (in tons) from all insurable acreage on the unit will include:
(1) All appraised production as follows:
(i) Not less than the production guarantee per acre for acreage:
(A) That is abandoned;
(B) That is sold by direct marketing if you fail to meet the requirements contained in section 10;
(C) That is damaged solely by uninsured causes; or
(D) For which you fail to provide production records that are acceptable to us;
(ii) Production lost due to uninsured causes;
(iii) Unharvested production; and
(iv) Potential production on insured acreage that you intend to abandon or no longer care for, if you and we agree on the appraised amount of production. Upon such agreement, the insurance period for that acreage will end. If you do not agree with our appraisal, we may defer the claim only if you agree to continue to care for the crop. We will then make another appraisal when you notify us of further damage or that harvest is general in the area unless you harvested the crop, in which case we will use the harvested production. If you do not continue to care for the crop, our appraisal made prior to deferring the claim will be used to determine the production to count; and
(2) For all states except California, all harvested and appraised marketable pear production from the insurable acreage.
(3) For California, all harvested and appraised production that:
(i) Meets the standards for first grade canning as defined by the California Pear Advisory Board or for U.S. Number 1 as defined by the United States Standards for Grades of Summer and Fall Pears, or Pears for Processing, or for U.S. Extra Number 1 or U.S. Number 1 as defined by the United States Standards for Grades of Winter Pears;
(ii) Is accepted by a processor for canning or packing; or
(iii) Is marketable for any purpose. However, if the pears are damaged by an insured cause, the production to count will be reduced by the greater of the following amounts:
(A) The excess over ten percent (10%) of pears that are size 180 or smaller for varieties other than Forelle, Seckel or Winter Nelis; or
(B) The result of dividing the value per ton of such pears by the highest price election for the insured varietal group, subtracting this result from 1.000, and multiplying this difference (if positive) by the number of tons of such pears.
12. Late and Prevented Planting
The late and prevented planting provisions of the Basic Provisions are not applicable.
13. Pear Quality Adjustment Endorsement
(a) This endorsement applies to any crop year: Provided,
(1) The insured pears are located in a State other than California and the actuarial documents designate a premium rate for this endorsement;
(2) You have not elected to insure your pears under the Catastrophic Risk Protection (CAT) Endorsement;
(3) You elected it on your application or other form approved by us, and did so on or before the sales closing date for the initial crop year for which you wish it to be effective. By doing so, you agreed to pay the additional premium designated in the actuarial documents for this optional coverage; and
(4) You or we did not cancel it in writing on or before the cancellation date. Your election of CAT coverage for any crop year after this endorsement is effective will be considered as notice of cancellation by you.
(b) If the pear production is damaged by hail and if eleven percent (11%) or more of the harvested and appraised production does not grade at least U.S. No. 2 in accordance with applicable United States Standards for Grades of Summer and Fall Pears, United States Standards for Grades of Winter Pears, or United States Standards for Grades of Pears for Processing, as applicable, due solely to hail, the amount of production to count will be reduced as follows:
(1) By two percent (2%) for each full one percent (1%) in excess of ten percent (10%), when eleven percent (11%) through sixty percent (60%) of the pears fail the grade standard; or
(2) By one hundred percent (100%) when more than sixty percent (60%) of the pears fail the grade standard.
The difference between the reduced production determined in section 13(b) and the total production will be considered as cull production.
(c) Pears that are knocked to the ground by wind or that are frozen and cannot be packed or marketed as fresh pears will be considered one hundred percent (100%) cull production.
(d) Marketable production that grades less than U.S. No. 2 due to causes not covered by this endorsement will not be reduced.
(e) Fifteen percent (15%) of all production considered as cull production in accordance with section 13 (b) and (c) will be production to count.