New Website

October 2012

 

We are excited to release our new website. Our site has been completely redesigned with an updated look and a lot of new content. We are always striving to make things better and our website is no exception. We'll continue to add new content to keep you informed on the latest in crop insurance.

 

 

 

Thank You to Our Customers

February 2012

 

Last year was a difficult one with losses ranging from drought to flooding!!  Corn aflatoxin added a level of damage.  We would like to take the time to thank all of our customers for their business in 2011 and for their patience with the loss process.  FMH and Great American were doing the best they could to contact everyone with claims but when that became thousands of policy holders the process began to slow down.  RMA wanted all claims over $100,000 to have a 3 year audit.  This added to the backlog but luckily was reduced to a few unfortunate policy holders when the percentage of audits reached a threshold.  There is talk of raising this trigger to $200,000 but has not been approved yet.

 

Millard Management is in its 26th year!! Rich Jantz started the business in 1987 with hail and basic multi-peril insurance!  He is a very proud Southwestern College graduate.  Van Ewart came on in 2000 after getting his business degree at Washburn University.  Dee Woods began working for Rich part time in 2001 and became a full time agent in 2004 with a degree from the University of Kansas.  Deb Geist had been working at the Farmers Coop Association in Lawrence until its closing and became an agent in 2002.  Combined experience years amount to 58 years!!  Crop insurance loves to reinvent itself every year and keeping up with the changes is always a challenge!

 

Speaking of changes, a quick overview of crop insurance for 2012 would include Trend Adjustment and premium rate reductions, billing dates are moving, and more restrictions on CRP and breaking ground. The push for more accuracy between FSA and crop insurance has made us look hard at titling of policies, trusts being the biggest discrepancy.  RMA is also requiring mapped acreage reports which seems to take more time but eliminates mistakes in legals at loss time.

 

 

 

Reduction in Base Premiums

February 2012

 

RMA has announced a reduction in the base premium cost of crop insurance. This does not affect the coverage or level of insurance carried.  Kansas counties  are averaging a six percent reduction. The cost of corn, soybeans and sorghum sileage have been lowered, different rates per county.

 

 

 

Trust Policies

February 2012

 

We have been preaching to you about all information matching the FSA office and especially how you market your grain.  All three names must match for you to get paid any claims you might have.  Here’s a twist; if you have a trust, revocable, irrevocable or living, this entity must be listed on your policy but preferably in the SBI portion with your actual name in the heading.  This will cover you if you buy land in your name or your trust’s name.  If the trust is listed in the heading and you buy land in your individual name, the ground is NOT covered on the policy. This is a bit unusual and luckily only comes into play if you are buying ground in both entity names.  For most circumstances, just having the policy in the trust name will suffice.

 

 

 

Breaking Out Ground

February 2012

 

The trend adjusted APH is probably the hottest topic for crop insurance in the 2012 crop year.  It is a pilot program that allows the insured to increase their yields on a per unit basis.  If the line item qualifies then there is a trend factor that is used to help increase your APH yield on that line.   This factor will vary by crop and county.   This program was designed to take into account the progress being made with seed varieties and precision farming in regards to the yields.  We continue to produce higher yields and one of the complaints about crop insurance has been that the yield history goes back so many years that we can out produce those older averages in the present day.  As with anything in our program that will increase your coverage, there will be a charge for this benefit.   It is similar to buying up your coverage, but you may be able to do it cheaper than going up a 5% level because you will continue to get the same subsidy as your current level.  Example (You may have similar coverage and pay less for 70% coverage with trend added, instead of buying 75% coverage without trend.)

 

Here are some highlights of the program:

It is only available on buy-up policies (CAT policies are not eligible)

 

It is only available on Corn and Soybeans and not all counties will be able to participate in this program.  (It is possible that you may be able to get it on corn but not soybeans in your county)

 

It is on a unit by unit basis. (Some lines may qualify and some may not.  Some lines may not increase and just continue like there was no trend added to that line item.)

 

The unit must have at least 1 actual yield in it that was produced in the last 4 crop years. (Trend will not apply to units that only have t-yields, or anything that is added land/new crop with the simple average t-yields unless there is an actual yield in their database)

 

If database contains less than 4 actual yields in the 12 most recent crop years the trend adjustment is prorated as follows:

 

4 years = 100% of TA

3 years =  75% of TA

2 years =  50% of TA

1 year   =   25% of TA

 

The following counties are eligible for Trend on Irrigated and Non-Irrigated Corn:

Atchison, Anderson, Barton, Brown, Clay, Cloud, Crawford, Coffey, Doniphan, Douglas, Franklin, Harvey, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Leavenworth, Lyon, Marshall, McPherson, Miami, Nemaha, Pottawatomie, Pratt, Rice, Sedgwick, Shawnee, Stafford, Wabaunsee, Washington, Wyandotte

 

The following counties are eligible for Trend on Irrigated Corn only:

Edwards, Finney, Ford, Grant, Gray, Greeley, Haskell, Kearny, Kiowa, Meade, Pawnee,  Stanton, Stevens, Scott, Seward, Sherman, Sheridan, Thomas, Wichita

 

On Irrigated and Non-Irrigated Soybeans all counties in the eastern two-thirds of Kansas are eligible for Trend.

 

The following counties are eligible for Trend on Irrigated Soybeans only:

Edwards, Finney, Ford, Gray, Haskell, Kiowa, Meade, Pawnee, Rush, Stevens, Seward, Sheridan, Sherman, Thomas