Agriculture · Commercial Orchards
Trees that took years to establish, seasonal crews, ladders, equipment, packing areas, and cold rooms all need protection. If you open for pick-your-own or seasonal events, customers become part of the picture too. BLIS helps orchard owners coordinate farm property, equipment, workers' compensation, vehicles, liability, and business continuity while keeping crop and hail coverage on its specialized track.
Licensed commercial insurance support across 5 states
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Share your contact information and a few basics about your business. A licensed BLIS representative will review your request.
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Submitting this request does not bind coverage or guarantee a quote. BLIS is licensed in California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Florida. CA License 0M74955.
Sending this form does not start coverage or guarantee a quote, price, or coverage result. BLIS will review what you send and may ask for a few more details before discussing available options.
What to expect
A BLIS representative reviews what you share, looks at what your business needs, and follows up if an important detail is missing.
A licensed BLIS representative reads what you send and gets familiar with your business.
We connect your day-to-day work, property, people, and vehicles with the coverage that may matter.
If something important is missing, we’ll ask a few focused questions instead of sending another long form.
When options are available, we help you compare price, limits, deductibles, exclusions, and policy terms.
After coverage starts, BLIS can help with certificates, policy changes, audits, renewals, and claim questions.
Your operation
An orchard owner is protecting more than one season's crop. Productive trees took years to establish, crews work in concentrated pruning and harvest periods, and equipment ranges from spray rigs to packing and cold-storage systems. A fire, frost event, employee injury, equipment loss, or visitor claim can affect current revenue and future harvests. The insurance plan should account for permanent plantings where available, farm structures, mobile equipment, employees, vehicles, public access, and the time needed to recover.
Permanent plantings — what's actually in the policy. An apple block or a walnut grove planted five to fifteen years ago is a capital asset. A frost event, a pest outbreak, or a wildfire can damage it in a single season. Farm property policies vary widely in how they treat permanent plantings. Some specifically schedule or blanket orchard trees against covered causes of loss.
Others exclude them outright or treat them narrowly. The valuation method also varies — replacement cost to re-establish the block at equivalent maturity reads very differently from an actual-cash-value formula. Know whether your trees are covered, at what value, and under which perils before a late freeze takes out a young block. That is a policy-inception question, not a claims question.
Seasonal farm labor and Workers' Compensation classification. Harvest relies on concentrated seasonal crews — pruning in late winter, thinning through spring, picking through the harvest window. This workforce operates at height on ladders, in the bins of lift platforms, and in variable weather. Farm labor Workers' Comp carries specific class codes that differ from general agricultural labor.
Payroll often spans several categories: field pickers, equipment operators, packinghouse workers, and management. In California, Workers' Comp is required for orchard employers. The carrier audits actual seasonal payroll against the estimate used at inception.
Setting an accurate estimate at the start of the policy period reduces the adjustment at year-end — and confirms the coverage structure matches who is actually working on your property.
Orchard equipment from field to packinghouse. Spray rigs, airblast sprayers, ATV platforms, harvest bins, bin-moving trailers, bin-dumpers, and on-site cooling or packing lines — your equipment list is broader than a single tractor. This equipment operates seasonally, sits idle during the off-season, and depreciates on its own curve.
Farm equipment coverage and inland marine for scheduled orchard equipment address physical damage wherever the equipment is located. That applies to a collision, a fire in the equipment shed, or a rollover on uneven terrain. Commercial property tied to a fixed address does not follow equipment into the orchard blocks or cover it in transit between locations.
Fire and wildfire risk. Orchards in California, Arizona, and other western states where BLIS is licensed may sit in or near fire-prone terrain. A fire moving through a dry orchard block can destroy trees that took years to reach production. Does fire coverage extend to standing trees, farm structures, or equipment in outbuildings?
Insurance options have changed in some wildfire-prone areas, so BLIS reviews what coverage may be available and on what terms.
Agritourism and pick-your-own general liability. Some orchards invite the public in: pick-your-own days, harvest festivals, farm stands, educational tours. That creates a GL exposure the production-only farm does not carry. When members of the public walk orchard rows, handle ladders, or attend seasonal events, the premises liability picture is materially different from a commercial harvesting operation.
Farm GL policies vary in how they address agritourism. Some include it. Others restrict it or require a separate endorsement for public-access operations. Confirm that the liability coverage extends to those activities before the season opens — not after a visitor is injured.
Cold storage and packinghouse facilities. Orchards with controlled-atmosphere storage, refrigerated rooms, or packing lines are running a facilities operation alongside the field operation. That means commercial property coverage for the structure and contents.
It also means equipment breakdown coverage for refrigeration compressors — a compressor failure during peak storage puts weeks of harvested crop at risk of temperature compromise. Standard farm property coverage typically excludes that kind of mechanical failure because the cause is a breakdown, not an external peril like fire or windstorm.
Packinghouse equipment, grading lines, and cold room infrastructure warrant separate attention in the coverage review.
Crop and hail coverage follows a separate process from commercial insurance. Orchard coverage primarily uses USDA federal crop programs, with private policies available for some gaps. Covered crops, limits, and enrollment deadlines vary by crop and county. BLIS can coordinate with crop specialists and help owners understand the timeline before the growing season begins.
Farm auto — where the vehicle picture gets complicated. Pickup trucks, flatbeds, tractors, self-propelled spray equipment, and hired labor transport may all be in use on a commercial orchard. Some operations add refrigerated transport for delivering fruit to packers or processors.
Farm auto and commercial auto differ in how they handle vehicles used primarily in farming operations versus vehicles driven regularly on public roads. Knowing which vehicles belong under which form — and where the hired/non-owned exposure sits — is how you avoid a coverage gap when a vehicle incident happens on a county road.
Contract and certificate requirements from packers, processors, and lenders. A marketing agreement with a packer or processor may require minimum GL and property limits as a condition of the agreement. Agricultural lenders with liens on equipment or real property typically require the lender to be named as an additional interest or loss payee.
Certificate requests arrive on harvest-agreement and loan-renewal timelines — not policy renewal cycles. BLIS manages those requests, confirms that required endorsements are reflected in the policy, and issues updated certificates when coverage changes.
Coverage
These are common coverages to consider, not a preset package. The right mix depends on how your business works, your contracts, state requirements, and the policy options available.
packinghouse, equipment barns, irrigation pump houses, and cold storage — along with the permanent plantings themselves. Orchard trees are the core productive asset. The covered causes of loss and the valuation method for mature trees are the two coverage details that matter most. Schedule them accurately; check what the policy language actually says rather than assuming the trees are covered.
undervaluation creates a recovery gap that only appears when a major loss hits during peak season.
Including Agritourism Where Applicable. General Liability covers third-party bodily injury and property damage arising from your farming operations. If you run pick-your-own events, farm stands, or harvest festivals, confirm that the GL policy explicitly covers those public-access activities. Some farm GL forms include agritourism; others require a separate endorsement or standalone policy structure. That review belongs before the season, not after a visitor incident.
Refrigeration and Cooling. Controlled-atmosphere storage depends on refrigeration compressors running continuously through the post-harvest period. A compressor failure mid-storage can expose the full room to temperature compromise. Standard farm property coverage typically excludes that loss because it arises from mechanical failure rather than a covered external peril. Equipment breakdown coverage responds to sudden mechanical or electrical failure of cooling and refrigeration systems. Where cold storage is part of the operation, it belongs in the coverage structure.
What shapes your quote
These details can affect which options are available and what they may cost. You don't need all of them to start — send what you have, and we'll follow up on anything important that's missing.
Coverage examples
A few situations that show how coverage can respond when something goes wrong. These are examples only — not actual claims, and not a guarantee of any outcome.
A late-season radiation frost moves through a commercial apple orchard overnight. A recently-established block — trees in their third leaf, not yet in full production — sustains significant bud damage. The expected crop for the season is reduced, and it is unclear whether some trees can recover or need to be replanted.
Farm property coverage that includes permanent plantings can respond to orchard tree losses under covered causes of loss. The specific outcome depends on the policy terms, the coverage structure chosen at inception, and the valuation method applied to those trees.
A seasonal harvest picker loses balance on a picking ladder and falls to the ground. The worker sustains injuries requiring medical treatment and a period away from work. Workers' Compensation can respond to the employee's medical expenses and wage replacement during recovery. This is subject to the policy terms and the state's workers' compensation statutes.
This type of incident is among the more common claims patterns in orchard harvest operations, where work at height is a routine part of the picking process.
On a public pick-your-own weekend in late fall, a visitor to the u-pick area slips on wet grass between tree rows and falls. The visitor sustains an injury that leads to a premises liability claim. General Liability can respond to third-party bodily injury claims arising from agritourism activities.
This is subject to the policy terms and whether agritourism coverage extends to the specific activity and premises involved. Running public-facing events without confirming that agritourism is explicitly covered under the GL policy is a gap that may surface when a visitor is injured. That's the check to do before the season opens.
A refrigeration compressor serving a controlled-atmosphere storage room fails during peak storage season, several weeks after the apple harvest has been loaded into the room. The temperature in the affected room rises before the failure is detected, and a significant portion of the stored crop sustains quality damage.
A standard farm property policy typically excludes losses arising from mechanical or electrical breakdown. It responds to an external covered cause of loss such as fire or windstorm instead. Equipment breakdown coverage is designed to respond to sudden mechanical failure of cooling and refrigeration systems. This is subject to the policy's terms, limits, and coverage structure.
The claim scenarios above are illustrative examples only. They do not represent actual clients, actual claims, or guaranteed coverage outcomes. Coverage for any specific situation depends on the policy terms, conditions, exclusions, and the facts of the claim.
After coverage starts
Once coverage is in place, new contracts or business changes can mean new paperwork. A certificate only summarizes policy information; the policy and its endorsements determine the actual coverage.
FAQ
It depends on the policy. Permanent plantings — orchard trees — aren't automatically included in all farm property policies. Some specifically schedule or blanket them, covering trees for a stated value against covered causes of loss such as fire, frost, windstorm, or lightning. Others exclude them or cover only incidental structural damage. The valuation method also varies. Some policies cover the replacement cost of replanting and re-establishing a block to the same age and maturity. Others apply an actual-cash-value formula. The coverage structure for permanent plantings should be confirmed at application and in the policy language before the season begins. We'll review what the policy actually provides for your orchard blocks as part of the account intake.
If you employ seasonal harvest workers, you must carry workers' compensation where state law requires it. Farm labor uses specific class codes, and picking, pruning, equipment operation, and packinghouse work may be coded separately because the jobs carry different injury risks. Premium is based on payroll by classification and later adjusted to actual payroll at audit. If you hire through a farm labor contractor, confirm that contractor's workers' compensation coverage before the season begins.
Agritourism general liability covers third-party bodily injury and property damage claims from public-facing farm activities. It can come through a farm GL endorsement or through a separate policy structure. Covered activities include pick-your-own events, farm stands, harvest festivals, school tours, and similar programs where members of the public are on the property. The key question is whether the GL you carry explicitly extends to those activities. If not, a separate endorsement or standalone policy is required. If you sell or serve food or alcohol at events, product liability and liquor liability may be additional coverage considerations. We'll review the GL policy's actual terms against your public-facing activities before recommending a structure.
Crop insurance for tree fruits and nuts is written primarily through the USDA Risk Management Agency's Federal Crop Insurance program. Private market options exist for coverage structures or crops not available federally. The available coverage types vary by crop and county. Enrollment windows follow USDA program deadlines that fall well before the growing season. The claims and indemnity process for federally-backed crop insurance follows program rules distinct from commercial lines. BLIS coordinates with crop insurance specialists who can help you navigate the program options for your specific crop and geography. BLIS doesn't place federal crop insurance directly but reviews the commercial lines account in context with any existing crop program enrollment. If you're not currently enrolled and want to understand the options, reach out early — before the enrollment deadline for your crop.
Not necessarily — but those structures, contents, and mechanical systems should be specifically addressed in the farm property and equipment breakdown coverage. A packinghouse is a commercial structure with specific replacement-cost values. Cold storage rooms involve refrigeration equipment that can fail mechanically. Packing line equipment has its own replacement cost. Farm property policies vary in how they treat on-farm processing and storage facilities. Some include them under the farm property coverage with appropriate structure values; others require the packinghouse to be separately rated and scheduled. Equipment breakdown coverage for refrigeration and cooling systems addresses the sudden failure of those systems — a loss category that farm property typically doesn't cover. We'll review each component of your post-harvest handling infrastructure as part of the account intake.
It depends on how each vehicle is used. Pickup trucks and flatbeds driven on public roads for farm business typically need commercial auto coverage. Tractors and self-propelled spray equipment that operate only within the orchard and on private farm roads are generally addressed under farm equipment coverage rather than commercial auto. State requirements vary, and the lines blur when equipment crosses a public road. Farm utility vehicles and ATVs used for light operations on the property often fall into a gap that needs to be specifically addressed in the policy. If you hire crews transported in vehicles owned by a labor contractor or farm labor agency, hired/non-owned auto coverage may be relevant for your liability exposure. We'll review the vehicle inventory and how each type is used during the intake process.
Orchards in California, Arizona, Nevada, and other western states where BLIS is licensed face wildfire risk. Insurance options have changed in some higher-risk areas, and the treatment of permanent plantings and farm structures depends on the policy. Insurers may ask about defensible space, irrigation infrastructure, and access-road conditions. BLIS reviews the property location and available terms so you can understand the options before choosing coverage.
The more detail you can provide, the more useful the initial quote process will be. Useful starting information includes crop type or types grown and producing acreage, the age and development stage of your orchard blocks, permanent and seasonal employee counts, and an estimate of seasonal payroll. A list of major equipment with approximate values helps carriers assess the equipment exposure. Structures on the property and their approximate replacement costs also matter — so does whether you run agritourism or public events. Any current policies with their expiration dates and prior loss history for the last three to five years also help. You don't need everything before reaching out. We'll follow up with targeted questions for the specific markets likely to consider the account. If you have a renewal deadline or a packer agreement with a coverage requirement, sharing that context helps set realistic timing expectations from the start.
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From the insights library
Ready to talk about insurance for your orchard business? Share the basics to get started.
Review Your Orchard CoverageCoverage availability, pricing, terms, conditions, limits, and eligibility depend on the insurer, state, details of the business, claims history, and policy terms. Nothing on this site guarantees coverage, pricing, approval, or savings.
Examples are hypothetical and illustrative. They show how a coverage can respond, not a promise that any specific claim will be covered. Actual coverage depends on your policy's terms, conditions, and exclusions.
Blue Lagoon Insurance Services, LLC is an independent insurance agency licensed in California (0M74955), Nevada (3983946), Arizona (3003332484), Texas (2966873), and Florida (L120266). BLIS is not an insurance company; final decisions about coverage, terms, and pricing belong to the insurer.
