Personal insurance guide
Farm and ranch insurance for the whole operation
A farm or ranch is a home and a business on the same ground, so its insurance usually takes several pieces: a farm and ranch policy (often called a farmowners policy) for the house, buildings, machinery, livestock, and farm liability, plus coverage for farm trucks, hired help, and extra liability. Here is how the pieces commonly fit, and what to check on each so nothing falls between them.
What farm and ranch commonly covers
Who usually carries it
- Family farms and ranches, crop and livestock
- Acreage and hobby farm owners with animals, equipment, or a few acres in production
- Operations with grain bins, shops, machine sheds, and stored grain or hay
- Farms that hire seasonal or year-round help
- Farmers who do custom work, haul, or sell direct to customers
Commonly covered
- Farmhouses and other dwellings on the property
- Barns, machine sheds, shops, grain bins, and other farm structures
- Tractors, combines, implements, and other machinery, scheduled or on a blanket limit
- Stored grain, hay, feed, seed, and supplies (farm personal property)
- Livestock, for listed causes of loss such as fire, lightning, and windstorm
- Farm liability for injuries and damage from farming activities and products you sell
- Farm trucks and trailers, on a farm auto or commercial auto policy
- Employees hurt on the job, through employer's liability or workers' compensation
- Extra liability limits above all of it, through a farm umbrella
Commonly excluded or limited
- Growing crops, which are insured through crop insurance instead
- Custom farming, hauling for others, or other side businesses, unless disclosed and added
- Semi-tractors and trucks used for hire, which need commercial auto
- Livestock death from disease, unless the policy adds it
- Machinery bought after the policy started, unless newly acquired coverage applies
- Pollution and chemical drift claims, in many policies
This page is general information about how these policies commonly work. Every policy's own forms, endorsements, and exclusions decide what it covers. For advice about your situation, talk with a licensed insurance agent.
Before your renewal
What to check on your own policy
- Every dwelling and structure listed, with values that reflect today's rebuilding cost
- Machinery scheduled or blanket, and whether newer purchases are included
- Livestock limits and the causes of loss that apply
- Farm trucks and trailers on the right auto policy, with drivers listed
- Hired help: employer's liability or workers' compensation in place
- Custom farming, hauling, and direct sales disclosed to the insurer
- Farm liability limit, and whether an umbrella sits above it
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