In farming, a financial loss can come to you in more ways than crop failure or a bad auction. 

You can’t control the weather, crop prices, or how a crop will do once it’s in the ground — these are all things that affect your livelihood. But you can control how you protect your agricultural business from whatever life throws your way.

Properly insuring your farm or ranch will decrease the chances that a drastic loss on the farm will significantly impact your family’s livelihood.

Let’s start by understanding what Farm insurance covers.

A general Farm and Ranch Insurance policy covers the following:

• Your farmhouse – your home and property, with enough coverage to rebuild and replace.
• Your farm buildings – machine sheds, tool shops, grain bins, grain legs, grain dryers, garages, and livestock barns.
• Your farm equipment – tractors, combines spray coupes, implements, and tools. 
• The basic farm equipment insurance policies cover weather-related losses, collisions, theft, and vandalism.
• Farm Liability Coverage – protects against lawsuits related to third-party personal injury, medical expenses, or property damage.

When you are adding your buildings and equipment to the Farm and Ranch insurance coverage, you will need to schedule them. With most insurance policies you have the ability to pick and choose which farm personal property should be listed on the policy. Only items that are listed on the policy will be covered in the event of a loss.  

This is a great way for farm and ranch owners to customize their coverage based on their specific needs, usage, and budget. It also gives adequate limits for higher valued items. This is ideal for new tractors, combines, and other large pieces of equipment. Things to remember when looking at your farm and ranch insurance:

• Every item that you list in your policy must contain a description. Typically this would include: make, model, year, serial number, etc. for applicable equipment.
• Large systems like irrigation and all of the components that encompass it would be included in the policy.  
• Items with a smaller dollar value like tools and supplies could be grouped together in the policy. 

Farm Blanket Insurance: 

Farm Blanket Insurance is an insurance policy where various items are covered under one limit of insurance. This means that one large limit of insurance is intended to cover all tractors, implements, tools, and other equipment used on a farm.  No schedule of individual items is required on this type of policy. Things to consider when looking into Farm Blanket Insurance are:

• There is a per head limit on livestock, so it is important to understand the amount of coverage to ensure that your blanket fits your coverage needs. 
• Typically, all farm personal property is included in the blanket coverage limit, so if you have items that you do not wish to insure, scheduled coverage may make the most sense for you. 

What isn’t covered by Farm & Ranch Insurance?

While there could be many exclusions farmers and ranchers should be aware of, typically earthquake, flooding, crop insurance, livestock mortality, life insurance, and commercial general liability are not covered under farm insurance. 

For small farms, ranch operations, large farms and everything in between it is important to find an agent or an insurance company that can assist you in determining the appropriate insurance protecting your livelihood.

It’s important to remember that when it comes to Farm & Ranch insurance, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all. If you have questions about your coverage options or policy limits, check with your agent to review your policy.