Farm Law and Ag Law Blog

LEAVING ADEQUATE "REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE" FOR CROP INSURANCE CLAIM 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 defin...

               Crop insurance plays an ever increasing role in modern farming.  However, like any safety net, crop insurance can be wrought with holes.   Over the years I’ve seen producers have their claims denied for many different reasons.   Often times these reasons are really no fault of the producer.   Simply stated, the federal crop insurance rules are very complex and can be unforgiving.                  Generally, when a producer believes they have a claim, they call up their agent.   The agent then submits a claim and at some point an adjuster is assigned to the case.   The adjuster comes out to the farm and evaluates the crop, measures bins, and so forth.   Although the adjuster should be well versed in the procedures, sometimes such is not the case.   We had a case a few years ago where the producer had frost kill t...