Crops & Livestock Insurance

Farmers face a multitude of risks each and every year - risks that can make or break their businesses. Whether farming crops or in the livestock business, uncertain weather conditions, unforseen pests, and more can completely derail their income for an entire year. There are a number of different types of policies available to farmers, including both private and federally funded programs.

crops hail

Crop Insurance

Farmers can use a combination of federal and private Crop Insurance to protect their most precious assets. Crops are subject to a wide variety of perils each season including hail, droughts, fire, flooding and more. It can also be purchased to cover things like loss of revenue due to changing agricultural prices. There are two main types of policies agricultural producers can use to cover their crops:

  • Crop-hail Insurance: Crop-Hail coverage can be purchased at any time and covers farmers against crop damage caused by hail, and sometimes a few other named perils such as lightning and fire. It is provided by private insurers.
  • Multi-Peril Crop Insurance (MPCI): This coverage must be purchased at specific times in the growing season and is provided by private companies who are partnered with the Federal Crop Insurance Program. This coverage provides protection against crop loss due to a multitude of perils including insects, disease, fire, hail storms, flooding, drought, and more. 
herd of cattle

Livestock Insurance

Livestock Insurance is purchased to cover herds of horses, cattle, pigs, sheep and more. Entire herds can be wiped out at a time by disease, fire, accidents, etc., and the farmer can be out a significant investment. Livestock can also be covered under a Farm & Ranch policy as Personal Property if they are declared in the policy, however, it can also be purchased separately. In order for a herd to be protected against illness and disease, the insured will need to purchase a comprehensive package that includes Animal Mortality Coverage. There are three basic ways to cover Livestock:

  • Individual: This type of coverage is used to list animals of higher value individually on a policy. It is generally not used to cover a large number of animals. 
  • Herd: This covers a certain number of livestock in one herd - for instance 500 head of cattle.
  • Blanket: This policy covers all of a farms assets under one policy, from equipment to structures to herds of animals.