You belike know by now that insurance is a real and of import expense for your diminished - scale farm — whether or not you move your farm as a line of work . As a dangerous and often unpredictable activity , farming poses all kinds of risks to you and to mass and prop around you . Beyond introductory farm insurance , here are a few hyperkinetic syndrome - ons that you should consider .
1. Umbrella
Personal - property umbrella insurance and indebtedness umbrella indemnity go above and beyond your standard belongings policy . Umbrella policies tend to not be that much more than property insurance , and these might even comprise some of the insurance policy selection bring up here .
2. Commercial Liability
Making money of any amount intend your farm is a commercial-grade surgical process , and you might debate commercial-grade indebtedness insurance as a result . This could coveragritourismor the sales event of hay , animate being , acquire and the similar .
3. Whole-Farm Revenue Protection
This refuge net comes from the USDA Risk Management Agency rather than your veritable policy agent . Whole - Farm Revenue Protection is diminished - scale leaf , organic and specialty - crop producers ’ answer to crop policy , and it ’s only been around for a few years . It will provide receipts for all covered enterprises due to an unavoidable natural deprivation — for model , a hurricane , flood , droughtor wildfire . The WFRP program does n’t cover timber , forest , wood products or animate being for sport , show or favourite , consort to USDA . The amount reimburse is based on your farm ’s historical average revenue , as show on your tax returns .
4. Business Interruption
If your little - shell farm is also your business , this policy traverse you when something takes place that preclude you from carry on . Penn State Extension offers the object lesson that “ this may be due to the passing of a barn and sellable animals in that b . The business will not have income until new animal can be raised to the same size as the turn a loss animals . ” While your prop indemnity might cover the cost of the barn and the animate being , the business - break insurance policy can take tending of the income you are missing out on .
5. Workers’ Compensation
worker ’ recompense policy is not something only required of large employer , and it ’s also not something that ’s covered by umbrella policies . If you pay someone to work on your farm or in your farm occupation — even part - time or seasonally — you need a workers ’ compensation policy . agiotage vary in price based on the turn of years you ’ve been in concern , the turn of employee and your estimated payroll department .
6. Employee Dishonesty
We ’d like to retrieve all of our friend , family unit members and employees are trustworthy in every situation , but we make love that ’s not always the case . In the event that your Fannie Merritt Farmer - market place till is getting skim or your inventory is unexplainably dwindle away — and an employee is found to be at defect — the employee - dishonesty insurance can reimburse your loss .
Whatever is hap on your farm , insurance is an inauspicious necessity . For some hobby farm , a homeowner ’s indemnity policy will extend farming activity , but this is not always the sheath . The size of it , telescope and localization of your farm will dictate precisely what you need , and a trusted insurance advisor is invaluable .
This article originally appeared in the January / February 2017 issue ofHobby Farms .

