"Agriculture is our wisest pursuit, because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals & happiness."

Beginning Farmer/Rancher

Beginning Farmer or Rancher (BFR) – This program gives higher replacement yields for years with a severe loss, provides a 10% discount on premiums, and waives any administrative fees ($30 for buy-up and $655 for CAT). 

• To qualify as a BFR, you must have fewer than 5 years with an insurable interest in farming or ranching anywhere in the US.  Years of insurable interest while under the age of 18, while in active military service, or while studying at a college or university are exempt.  Documentation must be submitted to substantiate exclusion years.

Years with an insurable interest in farming or ranching includes years with crops or livestock that could have been insured even if they were not.

Loss Adjustment Process

Report any crop damage as soon as you realize there is a problem.  Do not wait until you have sold the crop and have exact figures to call, as this may be after the end of the insurance period and the loss will not be paid.  Unlike car or homeowner’s insurance, reporting a loss on your crop insurance will not affect your premium.  Premiums are based on actual production which is collected whether or not you get a payment.  If there is any chance of crop damage, please call so we can begin the process.

• Do not destroy any crop if you suspect a loss, (such as abandoning the crop or cutting it for hay), unless an adjuster has inspected the crop.  If you cut a crop for hay, we need to appraise it for your production history. 

• Keep accurate production records.  If you suspect a loss and you are commingling production between units or last year’s production, we will need to mark the bins to keep production separate.  Yield monitors may be used if they keep appropriate records such as maps and yields and it has been properly calibrated.  In the perfect world, it’s best to have certified weight tickets with the FSN and date on each ticket.

• Please call immediately if you suspect a loss at any time.

Trend Adjustment (TA)

The Trend Adjustment option gives older yields a small yield boost in order to reflect improvements in farming practices and seed productivity. The more years it has been in production, the larger the increase to that farms average yield.  This option effectively provides slightly higher coverage on qualifying farms, but in most cases,  you are better off going to the next highest level for a few more dollars per acre. 

• What farms qualify- Corn, soybeans, cotton, and wheat.  You can choose which crop to apply it to. 

  • The yield increase applies to each farm and its history individually. 

The farm must have had the crop in rotation in one of the last four years.

Breaking Out Pasture/Hayland

Land that has been in grassland or pasture and not row cropped in one of the last three years is not insurable.  However, if you contact our office before the acreage reporting date (the earlier the better) your land may be insurable in the following situations: 

• If you can prove the land has been in some sort of row crop in the past, it is eligible for, at most, 80% of your coverage level at full premium. If you cannot prove the land has previously been planted, you only receive 65% of your coverage level.  This means that even if you have the 75% level, your guarantee for the new land would be less than half of your average. If you choose to not insure the land, it will be insurable at full coverage next year. If you planted wheat this year on land coming out of grass, these same rules still apply for insuring spring crops this season. Land coming out of CRP can be insured as usual.  However, we still need to be notified so that we can identify the acreage.