Having a farm and ranch insurance provides protection for your property which may include your home, agricultural, and livestock. If you live in a farm, rural home, or a ranch, you may want to consider this unique insurance policy that will provide you with wider coverage. Farm insurance is a combination of both home and commercial insurance which can easily be a farmer’s best friend.
Farm Insurance Information
If you are currently living on a farm, you must consider getting farm insurance. Standard HO-3 home insurance will not provide you with adequate coverage in case of calamities. To help you understand if you need to get this unique insurance here are some factors to consider.
Additional Structures
Check your property and see if there are additional structures other than a detached garage, swimming pool, or a small tool shed. If so, you may need to get farm insurance. For example, if your property includes barns, stables, sheds, or other structures, you may benefit greatly by using a farm insurance policy. If you have other small buildings like a work shed or a greenhouse where you grow crops that you sell, you should get farm insurance. Still, many homes opt not to get farm insurance policy when the income they generate from these commercial structures (e.g. greenhouse) do not go higher than the incidental limit of a regular HO-3 homeowners insurance policy.
Animals In Your Property
A lot of people owns pets in their homes which are covered in some homeowners policy or can be covered using an endorsement. However, if you own other animals such as horses you may need to get farm insurance. Moreover, it all goes back to the kind of income you are generating. For example, if you own a few hens in a small shed and you sell their eggs but the profit of this small enterprise does not exceed the incidental income limit, then you can keep your regular homeowners insurance.
Still, if you will operate a larger business then a farm or ranch insurance will provide you with the best type of coverage. You also have the option to purchase a regular pet care insurance in which your pets can be insured.
Workers On The Farm
If you have hired help in your farm, whether they are involved in harvesting, selling, or tending to livestock, you must consider getting farm insurance. This will help protect your property from possible liability in case of emergencies while they are doing their jobs. In some states, a worker’s compensation insurance is also required for farms with two or more employees.
Farm Insurance Coverage
Just like a standard homeowner’s insurance, your farm insurance has important coverage including dwelling, personal property, liability, and loss of use. Since it is hybrid insurance it works for your own home and other structures in your property, as well as, act as commercial insurance coverage. Since each farm is different from one another, you may benefit better if you have an agent to help you assess your property.
The good thing about farm insurance is that they are very flexible and can be customized according to your needs. You can typically start with regular bare insurance and you can place add-ons for additional protection.
You can choose how narrow or broad your farm insurance can be. Depending on your farm insurance provider, you can even pick the perils that you want to include in your coverage. Just like regular home insurance, you can get expanded coverage for items like falling objects, bursting water pipes, and more.
With farm insurance, detached structures that are typically covered in your homeowners policy will also be covered including your lawn, some trees, and shrubs. However, it will not cover anything that is commercially grown even if these crops are very near your lawn. You are required to get a separate crop coverage if you want to get coverage for your crops.
Liability Coverage
Farm insurance also has liability protection which means you are protected in case a person is injured in your property. Because of the nature of most farms and the risks it poses, liability coverage is a required inclusion in your farm insurance. It includes protection such as medical expenses, bodily injury, and property damage.
Farm Personal Property Coverage
A Ranch or Farm Insurance will also include personal property coverage. This is crucial protection because it will save you thousands of dollars in case your farm property is damaged in any way. Farm personal property is divided into three categories:
- Machinery and equipment
- Farm products like animal feed, seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides
- Livestock
Most insurance providers will allow property owners to mix and match the coverage that they need. Similar to how homeowners insurance endorsement works, you can pick out the coverage that you need depending on the kind of farm you are operating.
Insurance for Horses
One thing you need to remember, most states require equine liability law. In some states, they even require that you post signs and warnings that horses can be inherently dangerous and that any visitors, tourist, or spectators are assuming these risks. Most insurance companies will also require that any guest who plans to ride these horses must sign an equine liability release waiver.
Fencing
One of the major distinctions between a ranch and farm insurance versus a homeowner’s insurance is fencing. In a typical homeowner insurance fences are considered a detached structure and therefore a covered structure. However, in farm and ranch insurance, fencing is not covered. In most cases, most farm owners simply do not get insurance for their fencing since it is rare to acquire damage for huge areas that are fenced in.
If you are a farm or ranch owner, it is crucial that you are aware of the differences between a typical homeowner’s insurance and farm insurance. After all, the right insurance coverage will save you thousands of dollars in cost in case of a calamity or emergency.
