We pulled ten years of USDA Risk Management Agency data for Washington, California and Georgia: every county, every crop, every insurance plan. What came back was not the story we expected.
The last decade handed specialty crop growers a heat dome, a wildfire smoke crisis and two hurricanes. The losses were real and they were large.
The federal crop insurance program absorbed them. Between 2021 and 2025, growers in these three states received $8.1 billion in indemnities: $1.21 back for every $1 of total premium.
And growers responded by leaning further in, not backing away. Insured liability grew 162% in Washington, 97% in Georgia and 65% in California over the decade. RMA introduced and expanded products built for exactly these perils: a smoke index endorsement for grapes, a hurricane wind index endorsement now extended to crops insured by written agreement.
What’s left is the part growers and agents control: whether the structure of a policy actually matches how risk shows up on a particular operation. That’s where the gaps are.
What’s inside
- Ten years of loss ratios for Washington, California and Georgia, recomputed from RMA’s raw Summary of Business files
- Crop-level detail: apples, cherries, pears, almonds, wine grapes, pistachios, pecans, blueberries and more
- The Whole-Farm Revenue Protection gap: Washington runs 751 policies, Georgia nine
- The newer endorsements built for smoke and hurricane wind, and when you have to buy them
Get the full report for free below.
Find your crop in the data
The full report breaks out five-year loss ratios crop by crop across Washington, California and Georgia, plus liability growth and the complete WFRP participation numbers.
Fill in the form to download it for free.