The USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA) is currently running a pilot insurance program for oyster growers. The shellfish pilot crop insurance program, in its third year, offers ‘actual production history-price component’ (APH-PC) insurance for container-grown oysters commercially cultivated for the half-shell market. Additionally, the program allows farmers in eligible counties who purchase the APH-PC insurance to purchase ‘event-driven’ Hurricane Insurance Protection-Wind Index (HIP-WI) protection as an add-on policy.
Oyster growers must decide whether to invest in insurance for their crops as well as pay an additional premium to purchase HIP-WI protection. Dr. Andrew Ropicki, a marine economist with Florida Sea Grant, examines the costs of APH-PC and HIP-WI insurance for the 2026 insurance year and the returns a hypothetical grower would have received from HIP-WI indemnity payments over the last 10 years based on the occurrence of hurricane and tropical storm loss triggers for their county (Dixie, Escambia, Franklin, Gulf, Indian River, Levy, Manatee, Santa Rosa, Volusia, Wakulla). The analysis does not consider APH-PC indemnity payments because they would be specific to the level of coverage purchased and the grower’s specific losses.
Click on the document below for hypothetical examples which evaluate indemnity payments to oyster farmers in 10 Florida counties who have a guaranteed amount of production, select the 100% price election, and purchase the 50% coverage level for APH PC and TS option associated with the HIP-WI insurance.
2026 USDA Shellfish Pilot Crop Insurance Program – Florida Prices and Coverage by County