LANSING, Mich. — Fruit and specialty crop farmers across Michigan are wondering how they’ll pay the bills during a year that is increasingly unlikely to bear fruit.

With an estimated 90 percent loss of most of the state’s apple crop, and similar loss estimates for Michigan juice grapes, peaches and both sweet and tart cherries, many fruit growers have abandoned hope of a profitable year. Now they’re trying to figure out how to make ends meet as they look at near-normal expenses for maintenance that must continue to ensure the health of their orchards for another year.

This is coupled with seasonal labor questions of whether workers will come to Michigan to harvest what crop there is. And, it trickles down to fruit and vegetable processing operations, which may or may not have any produce to package.

Producers who normally rely on their own operation’s diversity of crops as a safety net to protect them against financial ruin due to crop loss are realizing this is going to be one of the most difficult storms they have weathered. Michigan Farm Bureau horticulture and forestry specialist Ken Nye said this is one of the worst crop-loss years for the fruit and specialty crop industry in the state’s history.

“It’s the overall severity of this situation that’s so potentially devastating,” Nye said. “In 2002 it was just tart cherries that we lost. This year is much, much more.”

Michigan’s apples, peach, grape and cherry crops all sustained significant damage after Mother Nature followed a mild winter and two summerlike weeks in March with an all-too-normal April, full of intermittent frosts and freeze events.

It’s a deadly combination that’s devastating for those crops – and proof to farmers that their current risk management options are inadequate.

Crop insurance doesn’t come close to covering all angles of Michigan’s diverse agriculture industry. Insurance is available for only a handful of “specialty crops” – mostly fruits and vegetables – and even then the best policies cover only 60-75 percent of the crop’s value.

Insurance availability also varies by location. Farmers growing otherwise insurable crops outside areas ideal for their cultivation don’t have access to insurance options other growers enjoy.

“Several of the commodity sectors – apples, peaches, grapes – tend to have relatively good crop insurance programs, and a majority of growers take advantage of those programs,” Nye said. “But there are also significant gaps, many more commodities for which coverage isn’t available.”

Terry Anderson, who owns and operates Anderson and Girls Orchard with his family in Montcalm County, said four of the last 16 growing seasons have been devastating for their business.

“We had significant crop loss in 1996, 2001, 2010 and 2012. That’s 25 percent – it’s not supposed to happen this often,” he said.

While his crop is insured, Anderson said under his policy, his farm must sustain at least a 50 percent loss before he is eligible to collect. “So, if we have 10 percent of a crop, we’ll get paid for 40 percent of the crop under our crop insurance,” he said.

Anderson said two years ago he learned a valuable lesson about the relationship of crop insurance and disaster payments available through the farm bill.

“In 2010, we didn’t have crop insurance on our strawberries, peaches and cucumbers, so we didn’t qualify for the disaster payment,” he said. “With the farm bill, you have to have crop insurance on everything that amounts to a certain percentage of your total gross. Our strawberry crop met that percentage.”

That won’t be a problem this year for him. “This year we have insurance on everything,” he said.

The dire situation Michigan’s fruit and vegetable farmers face only magnifies their desire for improved risk management features in the next federal farm bill, preferably in the form of broadened crop insurance options rather than the kind of ad-hoc disaster relief being sought in Washington at this time.

Last week, several Michigan legislators participated in farm tours organized by Michigan Farm Bureau (MFB) to get a firsthand look at the devastation in orchards throughout the state. In addition, two bills were introduced in the state legislature to seek crop disaster designation in several areas of the state. If the designation is approved, it would enable producers access to low-interest loans and other federal assistance to see them through the year.

According to the MFB, almost 70 percent of Michigan’s apple crop is insured – approximately 27,000 acres out of 39,000 total. Fewer than half of the state’s sweet cherries are covered by a pilot insurance program available in only a few select counties. The remaining sweet crop and the entire tart cherry crop doesn’t have the option.

Approximately 60 percent of Michigan peach orchards are covered by crop insurance, or about 2,300 out of 4,000 acres.