Take Five Minutes. Your Farm Depends on It.
By Aaron Bickle
If you’re sitting in your farm office, here’s a simple question: When was the last time you really looked at your farm insurance policy?
Not skimmed it, but actually looked at it.
That thick folder in the cabinet isn’t just paperwork; it’s the backstop for everything you’ve built. In today’s environment of higher land values, expensive equipment, tighter margins, and more risk exposure than ever, farm insurance isn’t something you can afford to set and forget.
If your goal is to keep the operation moving forward and eventually pass it on, your insurance plan has to be built for today’s farm, not the one you were running five or ten years ago.
A strong farm insurance plan is built, not purchased.
At Element, our philosophy mirrors how farmers think about their own operations. Your agent is the builder. The insurance carriers are the suppliers. And the agency team is the crew making sure everything works together.
The difference matters.
Farm insurance shouldn’t be handled by someone who occasionally writes a farm policy. It should be built by an independent agent who understands agriculture: how farms operate, how risks stack up, and how quickly things can change.
That also means having access to more than one strong, ag-focused insurance carrier. Loyalty is important, but flexibility is critical. Claims happen. Markets shift. Coverage and pricing move. When that happens, having options protects you from being boxed into a bad situation.
What “Good Coverage” Really Means
Good coverage doesn’t mean buying every endorsement available. It means being prepared for the scenarios that could actually disrupt your operation.
A strong farm insurance plan should answer one question clearly:
“Can I keep farming if something goes wrong?”
Here are a few areas that matter more now than ever.
Liability Protection That Matches Your Operation
Lawsuits today are larger, faster, and more expensive. A farm umbrella policy adds an extra layer of liability protection and is often one of the most cost-effective ways to safeguard land, equipment, and personal assets. If you don’t know how much liability protection you carry, that’s a conversation worth having.
Blanket Coverage Removes Guesswork
Operations change constantly, acres come and go, equipment turns over, and values move.
Blanket acres help ensure every field you farm is covered for liability, eliminating gray areas that can surface at the worst possible time.
Blanket equipment coverage avoids the problem of outdated schedules and mismatched values, especially in volatile equipment markets.
Grain Systems Deserve a Different Approach
For grain farmers, the grain complex is often the single largest fixed investment on the farm, and one of the easiest to underinsure.
Insuring bins, dryers, legs, and conveyors as separate pieces often misses the big picture. Treating the entire system as one connected investment keeps coverage aligned with real replacement costs as steel prices and construction costs continue to fluctuate.
Income Protection and Extra Expenses
A loss doesn’t stop with damaged equipment. Renting replacements, hauling grain to alternate facilities, or covering unexpected labor costs can pile up fast. Coverage that addresses lost income and extra expenses can mean the difference between a disruption and a derailment.
Common Coverage Gaps
- Employers’ liability helps fill gaps between workers’ compensation and general liability coverage, and it’s often inexpensive.
- Pollution coverage, including farm auto pollution, varies widely by carrier and should reflect the materials and equipment your operation actually uses.
- ATV and UTV off-premises coverage is simple, affordable, and commonly missed until it’s needed.
Farm insurance isn’t a commodity. It isn’t a renewal notice. And it shouldn’t be treated like a pre-packaged product.
Just like equipment, facilities, and grain systems, insurance needs periodic maintenance. As operations grow and change, coverage should evolve with them.
Farmers put too much on the line to assume their insurance plan will hold up without attention. Taking the time to review it and asking better questions is one of the most practical risk-management decisions you can make.
Five minutes in the office today could save years of work tomorrow.
Take a fresh look at your coverage and see if Element can help ensure your operation is insured and ready for what’s ahead by clicking here and getting in touch with an experienced Farm Advisor.
Aaron Bickle
Board Director, Senior Partner with Element
