TPI has been working with USDA’s Risk Management Agency to develop a new specialty crop insurance program for turfgrass producers.
On April 10, 2024 staff from USDA’s Risk Management Agency visited SelecTurf in Jefferson City, MO. Jim Keeven, and his nephew Tom, walked USDA-RMA staff through their fields and facilities, production processes and practices, and the risk and market settings within which they operate. “It was a lot to take in and was quite impressive”, says Robert Dubois, an Agricultural Economist from the Loss Adjustment Standards Branch of USDA-RMA. “Jim, Tom, and others of Jim’s family and staff were all very welcoming, kind, and generous in sharing of their time, thoughts, and experience. Much of what we learned during our visit reinforced our intuitions regarding the applicability and fit of our Nursery Value Select product framework to the turfgrass production setting. Thus, a near-term priority is amending our policy and procedure drafts, based on what we learned from the Keevens and their operations.”
Another priority, a need which the Keeven visit also made clear, is to make similar visits to turfgrass operations in other production settings and latitudes. As such, TPI has scheduled upcoming visits to turfgrass sod farms in Texas and North Carolina, and is also looking for farms to visit in northern, cool-season regions of production. The objectives are to visit sod farms from different regions of the U.S in order to create an insurance program that works well for turfgrass sod producers nationwide. TPI and USDA-RMA staff will be in the Houston, Texas area in July and in North Carolina in August as we continue to develop this program. If you have any questions or comments about this ongoing project, please contact Casey Reynolds, PhD at creynolds@turfgrasssod.org.
