The risks of growing crops: exotic insect pests and other disasters

All farmers in WA know that growing crops is a risky business - they are exposed to all manner of damage-causing events on a regular basis.

A risk management strategy, complete with crop insurance, is the only way to make sure you're not left out of pocket when disaster strikes.

In addition to this, it's important to keep an eye on the most pressing concerns facing your crops at any given time.

At the moment, for fruit, vegetable and flower growers, at any rate, one hazard is "exotic insect pests", which the Department of Agriculture and Food discovered as part of a quarantine inspection earlier this week.

These "exotic insect pests" include a number of inchworm caterpillars, found on cut flowers sent from Victoria and raspberries that originated in Tasmania.

In addition to this, mango seed weevils were found in fruit that had been shipped to WA from NSW.

"Quarantine WA works hard to prevent the introduction of exotic pests, diseases and weeds found in other states and territories of Australia," said John Ruprecht, executive director of Department Agricultural Resource Risk Management.

"These ... pests are significant and could damage WA's cut flower, fruit and vegetable growing industries if the pests became established in our state."

WA's agriculture industry is worth $6 billion annually, and farmers export about 80 per cent of their produce to overseas markets.

Of course, inchworm caterpillars and mango seed weevils are just two of the many risks your crops are exposed to. What about hail? Or livestock intrusion? Or overspray? These, too, could spell the end of your precious produce.

Elders Insurance offers both crop and farm insurance policies to help you cover the cost of such catastrophes and get back to business as usual sooner rather than later.

For more information, get in touch with your local Elders Insurance agent today!