Farm insurance is something no grower in Western Illinois or Southeast Iowa should leave on the back burner, and with harvest season approaching fast, August is exactly the right time to take a close look at your coverage. Whether you’re bringing in corn, soybeans, or a mix of crops, a lot can change between when you planted and when you pull into the field with the combine. Making sure your policy reflects where your operation stands right now is just good farm management.
Why This Time of Year Matters for Your Coverage
Harvest brings its own set of risks. Equipment is running hard, hired hands may be on the property, grain is moving in and out, and weather can turn quickly. A policy that worked fine in the spring may have gaps that only show up when something goes wrong in October. We’ve seen it happen. Farmers around Biggsville, Monmouth, and Stronghurst know that a hailstorm or an equipment breakdown during harvest can mean serious financial loss, and that’s not the moment you want to discover your coverage wasn’t quite right.
If you haven’t reviewed your farm policy since last year, now is a good time to sit down with one of our agents and walk through what you have. We work with farm operations of all sizes, from smaller family parcels to larger multi-parcel operations, and our agents have over 100 years of combined experience between them. We know the land, the crops, and the challenges that come with farming this region.
Crop Insurance Deadlines Are Real
One thing that catches growers off guard is that Federal Crop Insurance has specific enrollment and reporting deadlines tied to the crop year. Most of those deadlines fall well before harvest, but acreage reporting and production reporting requirements can extend into and past the growing season. If you’re unsure where you stand, the sooner you check in, the better. We offer both Federal Crop Insurance and private crop insurance products, so we can help you find the right fit for your operation rather than pointing you toward a one-size-fits-all solution.
Farmers in the Oquawka and Burlington, IA areas have come to us with questions about coverage gaps on prevented planting, price protection, and revenue protection policies. These are exactly the conversations we’re here to have, and we’d rather have them in August than in November after a claim has already been filed.
Farm Equipment and Liability: Don’t Overlook the Details
Beyond crop coverage, harvest season puts your equipment through its paces. Combines, grain carts, semi-trailers, and augers all carry their own exposure. If you’ve added or upgraded any equipment since your last policy review, make sure it’s properly listed and insured at an accurate value. Replacement costs for farm machinery have shifted considerably in recent years, and being underinsured can leave a real gap if something is damaged or destroyed.
Farm liability is another piece worth revisiting. With more activity on the property during harvest, including trucks, custom harvesters, and visitors, your liability exposure can increase. We take the time to understand how your operation actually runs so your coverage reflects that, not just what was true three or four years ago when your policy was first written.
A Few Things Worth Reviewing Before Harvest
When you talk with one of our agents, it helps to come ready to discuss a few things: any changes in your planted acres or crop mix this season, equipment you’ve bought or sold, any new buildings or bins on the property, and whether you have hired labor or custom operators coming in during harvest. None of these are complicated conversations, but each one can affect whether your coverage is doing its job.
We’ve been helping farm families across Western Illinois and Southeast Iowa since 1985, and we stay in this community because we care about the people in it. Our offices in Biggsville, Monmouth, and Galesburg are staffed by agents who are licensed in both Illinois and Iowa, so no matter which side of the river you farm on, we can help.
If you’re heading into harvest and haven’t reviewed your farm insurance lately, please give us a call or drop us an email. We’re happy to go through your current coverage and make sure you’re in good shape before the busy season gets fully underway.