Shad Dasher had catastrophic insurance coverage on his Vidalia
onion crop, which pays a maximum of 70 percent of the crop’s
market value per acre.

With 95 percent of his crop ruined, the insurance would have
given Dasher $1,800 an acre had the damage happened in the last
phase of onion production, near harvest time.

Dasher’s insurance adjuster, however, ruled that the damaged
happened earlier, around a late frost, which means he will get
only $1,080 an acre. That won’t cover the cost of his fertilizer,
he said.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Tattnall County, Kelly Folsom
said he lost 70 percent of his crop but will be reimbursed for
most of his costs. His crop was figured to have been damaged in
the final production stage.

Reid Torrance, the Tattnall County extension coordinator with the
University of Georgia Extension Service, says the discrepancy
between insurance companies is one of the issues making federal
disaster relief a necessity for southeast Georgia onion
farmers.

“The lucky ones may get their production costs back,” he said.
“But they will be the ones in the minority. That’s why the
growers are petitioning to get some kind of emergency relief.”

The number of Vidalia onion farmers has been declining in recent
years. “If we don’t get any aid,” Torrance said, “I’m afraid
we’re going to have even less onion growers than we had this
year.”

Torrance said several meetings have already taken place with Rep.
Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) and Sen. Max Cleland (D-Ga.) to try to get
federal aid for the onion farmers.

There have also been discussions in the state legislature about
standardizing the production stages insurance companies use to
decide the amount of damages they pay a farmer.

As it stands, Torrance said, the criteria vary among companies.
They can become even more arbitrary with the interpretations of
individual adjusters.