How Technology Improves Farm Insurance Claims
Sep 14, 2022
1 min read
Any time you need to file a claim, you want the process to go smoothly and quickly. Probably even more so with farm insurance claims when your operation is at risk. Today, advancements have been made in both farm operations and the agricultural insurance industry to work toward making the claims process as efficient as possible. Below we outline how technology in agriculture contributes to the process.
Risk Management
In some cases, risk management and preventative measures may be able to help you avoid the need to file a claim. Technology plays a big role in ag risk management. Some examples include irrigation/watering apps to track and control the amount of water your crops receive giving more where needed at the right time, autosteering and GPS capable machinery for dispersing fertilizer and strip tilling and smart farming equipment that uses sensors to collect data about the health of your crops and make decisions based on that information.
These technologies can help not only in mitigating the risk to your operation but also if you need to file a claim. In that case, you will likely have valuable data collected about the state of your operation before a catastrophic event.
Access to Data
When submitting and processing a claim, collecting the evidence is a critical component. Having substantial proof of damage for your provider will help in making the process move along. Luckily, today there are apps available to farmers that can help track things like field maps, nutrient deficiencies and grazing calculators. Not only do these apps help you stay on top of possible threats to your operation, but they store the data that is collected along the way. Data that can be useful when you least expect it.
Other examples of data collection on the farm that may come in handy include drone use and camera-mounted machines. Drone images provide aerial images of your property and when they’re taken regularly and stored, they can be useful to show the state of your property before damage occurred as well as “after images” of damage to your operation. Similarly, farm equipment that has outward-facing camera capabilities can collect images before and after crop damage.
Faster Communication
Having images to submit along with your claim can expedite the claims process as well as submitting your information as quickly as possible. When a damaging event occurs, do your best to pull all images prior to damage, take new images of the damage sustained and get that information sent into your provider as soon as you can. Especially if there was a severe weather event in your area, it’s likely your provider will be receiving many claims like yours, which may create a backlog.
Use Technology to Your Advantage
When the unexpected happens and your operation is affected, you don’t have any time to waste. Incorporating new technologies on your farm or ranch could make a difference when filing a farm insurance claim. Find a Farm Bureau agent near you who can facilitate a smooth claims experience.