Whether you’re an avid hobby farmer or a full-scale agribusiness, your ranch is more than just a business. It’s your livelihood.
Farm and ranch insurance offers specialized property and liability protection beyond a typical homeowners policy.
General Liability Insurance
Farm and ranch insurance provides property protection and liability coverage for farmers. It’s essential for people who operate a farming business to acquire this type of policy because the risk of working in agriculture is high. It’s the sixth most dangerous job in the United States and should not be taken lightly.
This type of insurance combines the best aspects of personal and commercial liability policies and can be customized to fit your needs. It typically covers your dwelling and other buildings on the farm, livestock, and farm equipment.
This policy may include personal property coverage like farm tools, irrigation equipment, harvested crops, etc. It also offers liability coverage for bodily injury and property damage caused by your farm services, operations, or products, as well as excess liability coverage in case a claim exceeds the limits of primary insurance. It is often combined with agribusiness general liability and product liability insurance to provide maximum protection for your farm or ranch.
Property Insurance
Farms and ranches are a unique combination of personal and business assets. In addition to providing a livelihood for families, they also need to protect their land, livestock, and equipment from significant losses. This is why many ranchers choose to purchase a farm and ranch policy. This type of coverage is similar to a business owner’s policy (BOP) and can be customized to fit the needs of each ranch or farm.
Coverage can include your dwelling and other structures on the property, like barns or silos, agricultural machinery and equipment such as tractors, and more. In addition to these structural elements, you can obtain protection for your crops and livestock from various risks, including natural disasters like wildfires and other perils such as theft or vandalism.
Another critical component of ranch insurance is liability coverage. This can offer protection if someone visiting the ranch is injured or if a product you sell makes them sick.
Livestock Insurance
Raising livestock comes with unique risks. Livestock insurance provides financial protection from loss due to weather events, disease outbreaks, and more. It also offers liability coverage for accidents involving farm equipment and vehicles.
This policy typically covers individual animals or herds and pays for losses if your animals are killed, put down, or stolen. It’s common to insure your herd for a single lump sum amount that can be increased if you have high-value individual livestock.
Livestock insurance can cover a variety of threats, including natural predators like coyotes and wolves. Other common risks include theft, fire, and transportation mishaps. The best way to find out what coverage you need for your ranch is to talk with a specialist. They’ll get to know you, your operations, and your risks to recommend the right policies for your needs. They’ll even help you customize your farm and ranch policies to match your goals and risk tolerance.
Business Interruption Insurance
Business interruption insurance (BI) pays your business for lost income and additional expenses if your property is destroyed or damaged and you’re forced to close temporarily because of a covered crisis. It’s typically included in a commercial property insurance policy, and it provides financial assistance to cover standard operating costs, such as payroll, utilities, taxes, mortgage or lease payments, and advertising for communicating the temporary location of your business to customers.
It also covers additional expenses, such as rent for a temporary space, replacement of machinery and materials, and payroll for employees who can’t work. Contingent business interruption coverage, a variation of this type of insurance, protects businesses from losses caused by disruptions at the locations of suppliers or downstream customers.
