4-26 IAN Non-floral Idaho

 An unusual way to take a look at the nursery industry in Idaho as opposed to Oregon and Washington. When I think of Idaho from an agricultural perspective, obviously one of the 1st things that comes to mind is our more than abundant potato production, but then there is wheat by the bushel, beef by the ton, of course there is dairy, sugar beets, corn, beans and as an aside, I even hear rumblings that soybeans may soon be in the mix. But I digress. Bottom line is, the agriculture sector in Idaho drives a huge  portion of our economy. and could be considered the hands down economic leader. Now what about posies… Geraniums, petunias, hothouse tomatoes, annuals, perennials… Potted plants, small potted trees… All the things that you might find in a nursery. It turns out, as I learned from the USDA’s Risk Management Agency spokesperson Jo Lynne Seufer that Idaho pales in comparison to Oregon and Washington as it relates to the number of nurseries. This was in a conversation regarding

 a sales closing date for 2014 Nursery Multi-Peril Crop Insurance (MPCI) coverage. “ Our participation here in the  Pacific Northwest is led by Oregon with 43 policies so about 43 nurseries have crop insurance and that liability coverage is over $195 million. Washington follows with only about 10 policies covering a little over $24 million and Idaho currently has 2 policies so two nurseries in Idaho have coverage and that dollar value is about $4.2 million.