Crop Insurance News

CLAIMS & APPRAISALS

Most producers have been there before. No matter what you do during the growing season, sometimes Mother Nature just will not cooperate, and you’re anticipating that your yields may fall below your guarantee. Obviously this is not the situation you would like to be in, but that’s why you purchased crop insurance to begin with. If you do find yourself in a claims situation, there are some important things to remember that can help the process go a lot more smoothly. Many times, money is left on the table because these guidelines are not followed. Don’t lose out on a potential indemnity because notification was not done on a timely basis. • Perils – The vast majority of naturally-caused perils are included under multiple-peril crop insurance (MPCI) coverage. This includes but is not limited to: adverse weather, failure of irrigation water supply, fire, insect damage or plant disease (unless you improperly or insufficiently applied pest or disease control measures) and wildlife damage. Those covered under Revenue

Protection are also protected from a decline in market price as well. • Timeframe – Insurance coverage generally begins at time of application or time of planting, whichever is later. The end of the insurance period is generally recognized as the earlier of: total destruction of the crop, final harvest of the crop, abandonment of the crop, or the end of the insurance period (which is December 10th for corn insured as grain and soybeans). • Insured’s responsibilities – For planted crops, the insured must notify the insurance company within 72 hours of the initial discovery of the damage or production loss, but no later than 15 days after the end of the insurance period, even if the crop has not yet been harvested. If you have a revenue protection policy and have a claim based on strictly price, the insurance company must be notified within 45 days of the harvest price announcement for the crop. • Appraisals – If you are going to harvest your planted crop in any nontraditional manner, a crop appraisal needs to be completed, otherwise you may lose out on a potential indemnity payment. The most common time an appraisal is needed is when you’re going to chop corn that is insured as grain for silage. If you have a corn policy, any acreage that is not harvested traditionally as dry grain should be appraised. You should contact your crop insurance specialist at least a week in advance of when you are planning on harvesting so it can be arranged for an adjuster to come out and perform the appraisals while the crop is still in the field. In the event you harvest before an adjuster is able to perform appraisals, representative sample strips must be left in the fields so the adjusters can use them for appraisals. The strips must be at least 10 feet wide and run the entire length of the field. If you do not agree with the appraisals you’ve gotten from the adjuster, do not sign them. Call your crop insurance specialist right away and we can have another adjuster come out and perform a second appraisal. Throughout the whole claims adjustment process, if you ever feel uneasy or that something doesn’t seem right, contact your crop insurance specialist as soon as possible. Obviously no one wants to have a claim; producing a bumper crop is much more enjoyable than receiving a large claim check. Remembering these key points will help make the process go that much more smoothly. ■

FRESH APPLE REVIEWS

Please remember that your fresh apple policy can be singled out for a fresh review at any time during the year or at claims time. You will be asked to prove that you have sold your apples as fresh and at what price they were sold at. The requirement is that 50% or more were sold as fresh, at a fresh price in at least 1 out of the last 4 years. Call us if you need more information regarding what documents can be submitted and what needs to be on those documents. If you cannot prove fresh sales, RMA requires that your apples be changed to processing for the current crop year. ■

CROP INSURANCE ALERT! BEFORE YOU CHOP!

It won’t be long until it’s time to fill the bunker silo. Before chopping corn for silage, please call and arrange for an appraisal ahead of time. Every effort will be made to have your crop appraised before you chop. Otherwise, you will be instructed on how to leave samples in your field for later evaluation. ■

FORAGE PRODUCTION

If you think you may be facing a forage production loss, make sure to contact your specialist to file a claim. If you didn’t have forage insurance for the 2021 crop year and are interested in coverage for 2022, the sales close date is the same as wheat, September 30th. ■