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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] Insurance for the little farm

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  • From: Richard Stewart <rstewart AT zoomtown.com>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Insurance for the little farm
  • Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2011 21:15:39 -0400

I'll touch on this as I have in the past with similar questions.

First separate your farm business from your home.  I cannot reiterate how important this is.  You absolutely must seperate the two on paper and in the legal forum even if they are not so separated geographically on the farm.  LLC is the way to go.  Its one of the cheapest to file and most simple with the most protections and its flexible.   Then insure your business and your home, under different plans and even different insurance firms/agents.  You get better rates as a business than a homeowner trying to conduct a business at home.  You get better homeowner rates without the business.  You should also not have ANY problems insuring what ever farming business you want to insure then.

As a business that deals with markets and just about the whole spectrum of retailers and chefs I will say that I found the following to be the average coverage required:

Commercial General Liability with the following coverages:

Occurrence 1 Million
Damages to rented premises 500K
Medical Expenses (any one person) 5K
Personal Injury 1 Million
General Aggregate 1 Million
Products Comp/Op Agg 2 Million

Some places like a Workers Comp coverage as well but this is not a deal breaker and they usually have paperwork that relieves them of any responsibility should something come back on you from one of your employees.

This type of General farm policy will cover most of your products for a simple farm operation for produce, honey, dried herbs, cottage food, on and off farm events, tours, CSAs, workshare CSAs, transportation of farm equipment to other location off farm and farm rental property that is not owned by the farmer.

Here in Ohio, cut Your Own Christmas Tree, PYO Berries and fruit, horse boarding, outdoor sporting activities (including ATVs and Hunting) are all individually covered under specific laws put in place to protect the landowner and business owner from pretty  much all lawsuits with the exception of gross negligence (like providing a knowably unsafe mount for a rider in bridal lessons).  These simply add another layer of protection for you and your farm.

This type of coverage is usually what the more upscale FM are looking for and will cover your bases when dealing with a company like Whole Foods or the Hilton and even a small one like a locally owned restaurant or caterer.  It will also add a layer of protection for you when dealing with producers that use your product, like say a artisan soap company.  We have ZERO control over the end product but the policy protects us in terms of our product within theirs.

It takes a while to get all the i's dotted and t's crossed, but once you do you simply fax existing paperwork and keep things updated.  Sometimes a business may need to be named within the policy and then you simply request a Certificate of Liability with them named directly within the policy (Certificate Holder).

Just some things to throw into the discussion.  

Richard Stewart
Carriage House Farm
North Bend, Ohio

An Ohio Century Farm Est. 1855

(513) 967-1106




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