Here we are deep into another busy harvest season. The countless hours that have been spent taking care of the crop over the past few months finally comes to fruition. While this is the time of the year everyone has been anticipating, this is also the time of the year where harvest record keeping and communication with your insurance specialist is crucial to your operation. As you are harvesting, storing, and delivering this fall’s crop, here are a few things to keep in mind.
If you have bushels from any previous crop year in a bin, contact your insurance specialist to request a bin measurement before adding any of this year’s crop to the bin.
When harvesting this season’s crop make sure you are keeping acceptable harvest records as you take the crop off the field. Acceptable records include: Field harvest records, bin markings, precision farming technology (if used according to guidelines), elevator scale tickets with assembly sheets, multi-peril crop insurance (MPCI) appraisals, and claims and livestock feeding records.
If you plan to feed any harvested grain, contact your insurance specialist to have those bushels measured before being fed. Measured grain is the easiest way to ensure that you have proper documentation for any harvested grain that is being fed.
If you think you may have a harvest loss, notify your insurance specialist immediately to report a potential loss. Once a loss has been submitted on your behalf, a MPCI claims adjuster will contact you to record your production and determine if there is a payable loss.
If you have a Revenue Protection policy with the Harvest Price Option, October is the month that the harvest price is set for both corn and soybeans. The corn harvest price is set using the October average of the December futures. The soybean harvest price is set using the October average of the November futures. As of this writing, we are on track to have a higher harvest price on both corn and soybeans, which means that any harvest losses will be paid with the higher harvest price.
Once you are finished with harvest, it is important that you get your crop production reported to your insurance specialist as soon as possible. This gives ample time for your insurance specialist to review your current year production to make sure that there are not any losses that have not yet been discovered. It also gives extra time for them to prepare your policy for the next crop year.
Harvest season can be an exciting time of the crop year, but it is also imperative that you keep excellent harvest records and communicate with your crop insurance specialist during this busy time of the year.
Have a safe and happy harvest!
