While a crop insurance claim is something most farmers don’t wish to make, sometimes they’re inevitable and data technology could make the process easier. Several data technology companies are partnering with crop insurance providers to provide streamlined reporting and better risk management modeling. Recently Climate Corporation partnered with Farmer’s Mutual Hail Insurance Company of Iowa, Farmers Edge made a deal with PartnerRe, Rain and Hail signed an agreement with Bushel and Farmer’s Business Network announced it would offer crop insurance through FBN Insurance, LLC. Each offer varying services related to crop insurance and risk management. Climate Corporation and Farmer’s Mutual Hail Insurance Company of Iowa connect field-level data to simplify crop insurance reporting. Bayer’s Climate Corporation enables the insurance company to access the Climate FieldView platform. Once a farmer allows access to FieldView, he or she can request data transfer to Farmer’s Mutual Hail Insurance. It can provide planting and production reports, eliminating manual entry. The companies say they will work together to identify future collaboration opportunities to partner in digital risk management for farmers. “Not only will connecting our two systems enhance reporting processes, the data collected through FieldView can be used for adjusting crop losses, resulting in an enhanced claim experience for our policyholders,” says Ron Rutledge, Farmer’s Mutual Hail president and CEO. Farmers Edge teams up with PartnerRe to offer real-time field data with customized crop insurance products. The four-year agreement combine’s Farmers Edge precision farming capabilities with PartnerRe’s agriculture insurance provisions. The companies will jointly develop new ag insurance production worldwide to address farmer needs. Insurance products will integrate with prevision farming capabilities to improve sustainability and efficiency, enabling them to obtain insurance specialized to individual needs. In addition, insurance providers will benefit from loss adjustment process efficiency. “Through this partnership, Farmers Edge is making digital agronomy a reality and empowering farmers all over the globe with data-driven insights so they can maximize crop yields, make better decisions and secure tailor-made insurance solutions that make sense for their market,” says Wade Barnes, Farmers Edge president and CEO. Chubb’s agricultural business Rain and Hail signed a multi-year agreement with Bushel to connect customers with farmers digitally. Bushel’s software program allows grain elevators, co-ops and ethanol plants automate sharing scale tickets from participating partners with their crop insurance agent. The Multiple Peril Crop Insurance program requires farmers to report harvest quantities and the companies say this new partnership will reduce the time it takes to report. Automated sharing services will be available nationwide in 2019. “The addition of Bushel to our platform provides growers and agents a quick and efficient way to report critical production information that can help save them time during their busy harvest system,” says Scott Arnold, president of Rain and Hail. Farmer’s Business Network will offer a full range of crop insurance products and services for select states in 2019. FBN Insurance is offered in Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Texas. FBN’s offering will provide users with access to insurance products from both federal programs and private offerings such as hail and wind-type supplemental products. The company says it will provide personalized, smarter risk management programs to secure farmers in down years without dragging profit in good years. “Farmers take on an enormous amount of risk to feed and power our nation, and yet no two farms are identical in their risk profiles,” says Lucas Strom, head of insurance at FBN. “Why should they have a one-size-fits-all model when it comes to managing their risk? FBN Insurance gives farmers the security they need to farm productively with an insurance plan that’s personalized to their risk appetite.”
The Bayer and Monsanto-owned agtech company Climate Corporation has partnered with Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance Company of Iowa (FMHI) to offer improved crop insurance reporting and better risk management modelling. The collaboration will use field-level data through Climate Corporation’s FieldView platform to transfer information to FMHI, eliminating manual data entry. Similar partnerships have been taken on by others in the industry, with Farmers Edge partnering with PartnerRe, Chubb-owned Rain and Hail developing software through Bushel, and Farmer’s Business Network expanding its crop insurance products. New offerings will strive to streamline systems and provide more personalised plans and programs.