Cricket Farm Insurance: What Coverage Do You Actually Need?
Most standard livestock mortality policies do not cover crickets. A specialty policy is required. That's the gap most cricket farmers discover too late, usually after a disease event or facility loss has already occurred. They assumed their farm policy covered everything. It didn't cover crickets at all.
Cricket farming falls between the standard categories that insurance products are designed for. It's not conventional livestock. It's not a retail food business. It's not a traditional insect business (whatever that would mean). The result is that standard farm insurance policies almost universally exclude insects, and farmers end up either uninsured or covered by policies that have coverage gaps they don't know about.
This guide identifies what coverage you actually need, where to find it, and what it typically costs.
TL;DR
- Typical cost: $500-2,000 annually depending on your facility value and location
- Expect to pay 3-8% of total insured inventory value annually
- Typical cost: $500-1,500 annually for $1M coverage
- The standard requirement is $1M per occurrence and $2M aggregate
- Some large retailers require $2M per occurrence
- Typical cost: $500-2,000 annually depending on your facility value and location
- Typical cost: $500-1,500 annually for $1M coverage
What Coverage Does a Cricket Farm Need?
1.
- And confirm explicitly whether your cricket inventory is covered as personal property or excluded.
Typical cost: $500-2,000 annually depending on your facility value and location.
2.
- There is usually a coverage threshold before a claim triggers (e.g., losses exceeding 30% of inventory in a policy period).
Typical cost: Highly variable.
- Expect to pay 3-8% of total insured inventory value annually.
3.
- It's not cricket-specific, but you need it.
Typical cost: $500-1,500 annually for $1M coverage.
4.
- The standard requirement is $1M per occurrence and $2M aggregate.
- Some large retailers require $2M per occurrence.
The Unique Insurance Gap for Cricket Farms
Standard farm insurance in the US is designed around:
- Conventional livestock (cattle, pigs, poultry)
- Row crops (corn, soy, wheat)
- Specialty crops (fruits, vegetables)
- Farm structures and equipment
Crickets are none of these things. The standard USDA livestock mortality definitions exclude insects. The standard farm property policy will cover your facility and equipment but may explicitly exclude "inventory" defined as insects.
The key question to ask any insurance agent before purchasing: "Does this policy cover my cricket livestock as inventory or livestock, and what documentation is required to make a claim?"
If the agent pauses and needs to check, you're probably working with someone who hasn't done this before. Find an agricultural insurance specialist or a specialty farm insurer.
What Coverage Does a Cricket Farm Need?
1. Property Insurance
This covers your facility (building, equipment, electrical, HVAC) and any owned infrastructure. Standard farm property or small business property insurance typically covers this without cricket-specific issues. Your bins, shelving, sensors, and processing equipment are personal property.
What to verify: That the policy covers "contents" including equipment in your production area. And confirm explicitly whether your cricket inventory is covered as personal property or excluded.
Typical cost: $500-2,000 annually depending on your facility value and location.
2. Livestock Mortality Insurance (Cricket-Specific Specialty)
This is the hard one. Standard livestock policies don't cover crickets. You need a specialty policy from an insurer who either specifically covers insects or will write a custom agricultural endorsement.
A few sources for specialty coverage:
- Specialty agricultural insurers: Look for insurers specializing in aquaculture or exotic livestock. The same underwriting logic that covers tilapia farms or alligator farms can sometimes be extended to cricket farms.
- Lloyd's of London syndicates: Custom agricultural risks are underwritten through Lloyd's, accessible through specialty brokers. More expensive but flexible.
- USDA's Risk Management Agency: USDA has explored pilot programs for insect farming coverage. Check whether any programs exist in your state.
What the policy covers: Mortality events from covered causes (disease, equipment failure, fire, specific weather events). Note that "normal" mortality is not covered. There is usually a coverage threshold before a claim triggers (e.g., losses exceeding 30% of inventory in a policy period).
Typical cost: Highly variable. Expect to pay 3-8% of total insured inventory value annually.
3. General Liability Insurance
This covers third-party injury and property damage claims. If a visitor trips in your facility, if a delivery driver has an accident on your property, or if your farm's operations cause damage to neighboring property, general liability responds.
For cricket farms, general liability is standard business insurance that any small commercial operation needs. It's not cricket-specific, but you need it.
Typical cost: $500-1,500 annually for $1M coverage.
4. Product Liability Insurance (Food Ingredient Sellers)
If you sell cricket flour, whole roasted crickets, or any cricket product for human consumption, you need product liability coverage. This is the insurance that responds if a consumer claims illness or injury from your product.
Food product liability is available through specialty food industry insurers and some commercial property/casualty insurers. The key requirements are:
- Documentation of your food safety program (FSMA compliance)
- COAs for your product batches
- Records showing your production and sanitation protocols
What insurance do I need to sell cricket flour to retailers?
Most retail buyers (grocery stores, natural food retailers, distributors) will require product liability coverage as a condition of doing business. The standard requirement is $1M per occurrence and $2M aggregate. Some large retailers require $2M per occurrence. Get this coverage before you approach retail buyers. They'll ask for your certificate of insurance.
Typical cost: $1,000-3,000 annually for $1M coverage, depending on your revenue and production volume.
5. Food Safety Recall Insurance
This is specialized and often overlooked. If your cricket flour product is implicated in a food safety event requiring a recall, the costs of the recall (notification, logistics, product replacement) can be substantial. Food recall insurance covers these costs.
Most small producers at startup stage don't carry this. As you scale and your retail exposure increases, it becomes increasingly worth evaluating.
6. Business Interruption Insurance
If a covered event (fire, disease event, equipment failure) stops your production, business interruption insurance replaces lost income during the recovery period. This is particularly relevant for feeder cricket producers who have ongoing supply commitments to pet stores. If you can't supply, you potentially lose the account, which is a loss that goes beyond the cost of the event itself.
Typical cost: Included with some property policies; add-on for others, typically 20-30% of your base property premium.
How Much Does Cricket Farm Insurance Cost?
A rough estimate for a 30-50 bin feeder-only operation:
| Coverage | Annual Cost Estimate |
|----------|---------------------|
| Property (facility + equipment) | $600-1,200 |
| General liability | $600-1,000 |
| Livestock mortality (specialty) | $500-2,000 |
| Total (feeder only) | $1,700-4,200 |
Add product liability for food-grade operations: +$1,000-3,000.
These are rough estimates. Your actual premium depends on your location, facility value, cricket inventory value, your claims history, and the specific insurer.
Finding the Right Agent
Don't go to a general insurance agent with this request and accept "we don't cover that" as a final answer. You need:
- An agent with agricultural or specialty livestock experience
- Access to surplus lines or specialty agricultural markets (Lloyd's, specialty farm insurers)
- Someone willing to research your specific situation
Look for agents who work with aquaculture operations, exotic livestock producers, or specialty food businesses. They've already dealt with similar coverage gaps.
For the compliance context that affects your insurability (especially for food operations), see the cricket farm compliance overview and the cricket farm profitability guide for how insurance costs fit into your overall financial model.
FAQ
Does standard farm insurance cover crickets?
No. Most standard farm insurance policies exclude insects from livestock mortality coverage. Your facility, equipment, and owned structures are generally covered under a standard farm property policy, but your cricket inventory is typically not covered unless you specifically add a specialty endorsement or purchase a separate specialty livestock policy designed to cover insect operations.
What insurance do I need to sell cricket flour to retailers?
At minimum, product liability insurance with $1M per occurrence coverage is a standard retail buyer requirement. You'll be asked for a certificate of insurance naming the retailer as an additional insured on your policy. Most retailers also want to see that you carry general liability coverage. If your product revenue exceeds $500K annually, food recall insurance is also worth evaluating to protect against the costs of a product safety event.
How much does cricket farm insurance cost?
A basic insurance package for a small to mid-size feeder cricket operation (property, general liability, specialty livestock mortality) typically runs $1,700-4,200 annually. Adding product liability for food-grade operations adds another $1,000-3,000. Costs range widely based on your facility value, cricket inventory value, location, and the specific insurer, so get multiple quotes and work with an agent experienced in specialty agricultural risks.
How does CricketOps help track the metrics described in this article?
CricketOps provides bin-level logging for the variables that drive production outcomes -- feed inputs, environmental conditions, mortality events, and harvest results. Rather than maintaining these records in separate spreadsheets, you can view performance trends across bins and over time to identify which operational variables correlate with better outcomes in your specific facility.
Where can I find industry benchmarks to compare my operation's performance?
The North American Coalition for Insect Agriculture (NACIA) publishes periodic industry reports with production benchmarks. University extension programs in agricultural states, including the University of Georgia and University of Florida IFAS, occasionally publish insect farming production data. Industry conferences hosted by the Entomological Society of America and the Insects to Feed the World symposium series are additional sources of peer benchmarking data.
What is the biggest operational mistake cricket farmers make in their first year?
Expanding bin count before achieving consistent FCR and mortality targets in existing bins is the most common and costly first-year mistake. At 5-10 bins, problems are manageable. At 30-50 bins, the same proportional problems represent much larger financial losses. Most experienced cricket farmers recommend holding expansion until you have three consecutive production cycles hitting your FCR and mortality targets.
Sources
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) -- Edible Insects: Future Prospects for Food and Feed Security
- North American Coalition for Insect Agriculture (NACIA)
- Entomological Society of America
- University of Georgia Cooperative Extension
- Journal of Insects as Food and Feed (Wageningen Academic Publishers)
Get Insured Before You Need It
Insurance is one of those business costs that's invisible until you need it and devastating when you don't have it. The disease event that wipes out your production inventory happens at the worst possible time.
Find a specialty agricultural insurer. Understand exactly what your policy covers and doesn't cover. And carry the product liability coverage your buyers will require before you're in the room trying to close a deal without it.
It's not optional infrastructure. It's the same as your bins and your temperature controllers. You need it to operate.
Get Started with CricketOps
The practices covered in this article are easier to apply consistently when they are supported by organized production data. CricketOps gives cricket farmers the tools to track what matters -- by bin, by batch, and over time. Start your next production cycle in CricketOps and see how organized data changes the way you manage your operation.