Conferences
Producer Challenges With Hemp Contracts and Crop Insurance
Paul Goeringer, Tyler Mark, Aaron Smith, and Charley Martinez
Summary
Industrial hemp production increased dramatically from 2014 to 2019, however recently interest and acreage have decreased. The long-term economic sustainability of the industry is still uncertain and is still facing many growing pains, such as global competitiveness, lack of market information, and lack of input standardization being just a few of the issues. The development of risk management tools for hemp producers has been slow and faced numerous challenges. Thus far, producer/processor contracts and crop insurance have received mixed (to be generous) reviews by the hemp industry. Initial contracts offered by processors provided limited protection for producers. Additionally, counterparty risk made many contracts worthless to producers, as many hemp processors exited the industry without fulfilling contracts. Crop insurance products were slow to develop and had limited use for the vast majority of small-scale hemp producers. Many hemp producers found the price too high or the coverage lacking and chose not to participate in federal crop insurance programs. This presentation discusses two current ERME-funded projects and provides insight into the current availability and issues with hemp producers using contracting and crop insurance.
Details
| Conference | 2022 Extension Risk Management Education National Conference |
| Presentation Type | 30 Minute Concurrent |