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Crop Insurance Education for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers in the Arkansas Delta

Ranjitsinh Mane

Summary

According to the 2017 Census of Agriculture, there are 280 socially disadvantaged row crop farmers in Arkansas and most (90 percent) of these farmers are African American (AA). These farmers are in eastern Arkansas or in the Delta Area. This area is known for large farms that operate 1,000 and over 1,000 acres. However, most of the AA farms are less than 1,000 acres in size. 

Based on estimates from the UAPB Small Farm Program, the AA row crop participants had an average size of approximately 500 acres. In general, crop insurance education is provided by crop insurance agents who are paid by the number of acres that they insure. Therefore, larger farms are prioritized over the smaller farms and AA farms with limited acres are not a priority in their education effort.
 
The results from a 2021 survey conducted during our ongoing training/workshop of 34 participants on crop insurance education program concluded that 97 percent of participants, believe in the benefits offered by the crop insurance program. However, 75 percent of participants had somewhat understanding of how crop insurance works or processes associated with crop insurance programs. The same survey concluded that about 76 percent of the participants were not aware of different types of crop insurance programs and products and believed that crop insurance was expensive for farmers. To add further, only 25 percent of participants had some plan to address natural disasters on their farm, with only 20 percent of participants having crop insurance to address natural disasters on their farm.

Details

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