As I sit in the office today looking at the gloomy cold weather outside, I am reminded of the farmers who are in the middle of harvest with lots of crop out in the field yet. I grew up on a grain farm, so I know the feelings of stress and frustration during harvest as weather puts operations on hold.
With the extra moisture coming down, I cant help but imagine that farmers are already tinkering on their grain dryers, ordering propane, and making sure that all systems are go. I remember many cool nights running drying batches late into the fall, and the anticipation of the drying being done for another year.
I spent a little time at a pulse crop distribution terminal in north east Saskatchewan in my early 20’s and in the short time that I was there, we experienced a minor fire in one of the grain dryers. There was a batch of grain that was ruined, and the dryer itself experienced a fair amount of damage to the mechanical components, as well as the electrical ones. What made things worse was the downtime and the pressure to continue drying grain on schedule.
With your farming operation, I can imagine there are similar concerns if there was a fire- costly repairs, damaged grain, and downtime! There are ways to protect yourself from all of these losses, and that is through a comprehensive approach to your insurance coverage. Here is a small list of coverage you need to consider having on your policy:
- Grain dryer
To have any coverage protecting you from losses from drying grain, you need to have your dryer insured. This can be scheduled or blanketed, but it MUST be listed somewhere on your policy pages or blanket list.
2. Grain Coverage
To have the grain insured that is in the dryer during a fire, you need to have either grain coverage purchased, or farm produce coverage purchased
3. Loss of Use
If you are worried about down time, you might want to consider loss of use expense to have insurance coverage in place to cover the cost of a rental while your unit is being fixed or replaced
4. Extra Expense
This coverage covers the additional costs for expediting costs for parts that may need to be ordered to fix your dryer. Because some parts might come from international suppliers, having this coverage can save you time and money to get you running quicker
If you anticipate drying any grain this fall, make sure to talk to your broker about your coverage to ensure you wont be faced with any surprises should the worst happen!