Production Risk and Crop Insurance Effectiveness: Organic Versus Conventional Apples

This paper empirically examines the income risks for Pacific Northwest apple growers, both conventional and organic. Current yield based apple production insurance, the Growers Yield Certification (GYC), and hypothesized revenue based insurance are also examined for their risk management effect on growers. Results show that organic apple production is more risky but has higher expected return than its conventional counterpart. The current GYC is subsidized and subsidized more for organic growers. However, the current low price selection levels prevent these programs from offering effective risk reducing effect, and they also prevent the hypothesized revenue insurance from showing its advantage over yield insurance as in the case of other major field crops.