Pawelski, at work on his onion farm, says the catastrophic crop insurance he paid for is almost useless MESSAGE BOARD: Nature's wrath

August 17, 1999
Web posted at: 9:51 p.m. EDT (0151 GMT)

By Correspondent Gary Tuchman

GOSHEN, New York (CNN) -- It's onion harvesting time in upstate Orange County, New York, where Chris Pawelski, like so many other farmers, has been hit hard by the drought.

"This is how I make a living," Pawelski says. "Can you make a living under these circumstances? It's very difficult."

Most of his onions are dead -- or dying.

The Pawelski family bought catastrophic crop insurance, but they are among many farmers who believe it is almost useless.

They say they learned that difficult lesson in two of the last three years, when hail destroyed most of their crops.

"My crop insurance payment was about $18,000 -- on an $180,000 loss," Pawelski says.

The meager payment is largely the result of an insurance calculation which pays off based on the stage of crop development that has been achieved when the damage occurs.

"So you really would have to lose the entire crop at the last minute to get anything close to 100-percent recovery," says farm expert Maire Ullrich.

Hindered by bureaucracy

The U.S. Department of Agriculture acknowledges that the crop insurance program does not work for everyone.

Onion plants shriveled by the drought

"Our program is often very bureaucratic," said Ken Ackerman of the department. "We have a number of legal restraints that make it difficult for us to respond to situations."

Changes are needed. Ackerman says that the current system of taxpayer-supported crop insurance, for which farmers pay just a small fee, often should be supplemented with so-called "buy up" policies for extra coverage.

But many farmers say the cost of a reasonable amount of coverage is beyond their reach.

In a good year, the Pawelskis grow enough high quality onions to fill 12,000 50-pound bags. This year, they estimate they'll be lucky to fill half that many.

"In '96, I think I cried every single time I had to do the bills," Eve Pawelski, Gary's wife, says. "In '98, I cried when I came out to the fields because there was nothing."

Now in 1999, she says they're crying again because even with insurance, they're facing the loss of tens of thousands more dollars.

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