"Expanded Options to Expanded Adoption: Crop Insurance Education for Underserved Producers of Small Grains in Georgia" intended to inform producers of small grains in Georgia about risk management options available to them through the federal crop insurance program. Producers of small grains in Georgia have low uptake of policies through the federal crop insurance program in spite of the many policies available for small grains production. The project also aimed to inform producers about new products such as HIP-WI and Whole Farm. This project helped inform Extension agents and producers about risk management options for small grains production and new insurance products.
The target audience for this project included producers of small grains in Georgia. The project reached this group through in-person presentations held with producer groups. In total, 30 participants attended the producer presentations. Educational materials from this project were also presented and distributed at the UGA ANR Conference which is the primary Extension conference in Georgia. Roughly 100 Extension agents, faculty, and specialists attended the presentation and completed the post-conference survey. The post-conference survey confirmed that attendees learned which crops in Georgia are underserved by crop insurance, learned new information about policies available for these crops, and were better prepared to advise producers.
Delivery strategies included presentations to producer groups and Extension agents with the idea that Extension agents could take results of the project into the field, thereby expanding the project's reach. While the project initially intended to reach producers through the Florida-Georgia Soybean and Small Grains Expo, this conference was not held in 2025. One Extension agent participating in the project stated that the project provided "great info!," while another called for more information and short fact sheets that could be distributed to producers. This project set the foundation for continued crop insurance education in Georgia.