LEAVING ADEQUATE "REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE" FOR CROP INSURANCE CLAIM

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This fall we have snow on crops in North Dakota, wet in the mid west, a hurricane down south, flooding along the eastern seaboard....all this will keep crop adjusters busy.  Perhaps too busy, in that it may be difficult for farmers to get adjusters on scene in a timely manner. 

This means farmers may be back trying to harvest what they can before an adjuster can get there.  In these circumstances, it could be critical you leave an adequate "representative sample" of the crop, depending on the circumstances.  Essentially, a representative sample is an amount of the crop left in the field that adequately represents what the condition of the field was as a whole.   It allows the crop insurance company to derive a yield for the entire field based off of strips left by the farmer.

What the heck is that, you may ask?  Good question.   The exact definition is contained in the crop insurance handbooks and/or insurance policy.  Often times, it is a header width the length of the field across several areas of a field.  However, you should contact your insurance agent and get, preferably in writing, what will suffice.  It never hurts to err on the side of caution and leave more representative samples then are required.  Better to be safe than denied.  

Also, adjusting of the crop may take multiple visits by an adjuster.  Before harvesting the representative samples, get permission, preferably in writing, that you can harvest the representative samples.   

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