The family sat down with their Global Ag Risk Solutions advisor at the kitchen table to review the options. Taking the time to truly understand Brook Haven’s needs – both today and in the long-term – helped the family see opportunities to reduce their risks and lean into their strategy with greater confidence.

Their desire to market aggressively and to chase higher yields during the season by farming hard pointed to a need for both inputs protection and a gross-margin guarantee. Ultimately, they chose Full-Coverage Production Cost Insurance. This whole-farm insurance product covered 100% of their input costs (seed, fertilizer, and chemical), even if they chose to increase their investment per acre as the season progressed.

On top of their inputs, they chose to insure $150/acre of their gross margin. They know their numbers, and with their fixed costs running at an efficient $190/acre, they were confident that with their full-coverage policy they’d never have more than $40/acre at risk – even in a disaster.

A business-focused farm, Brook Haven had diversified their income with surface lease, trucking, and custom spraying revenue. $40/acre of risk was well within the family’s comfort level and their lender’s risk tolerance. They’d start the season knowing that their long-term plan was secure before the first seed was put in the ground.

Positive early-season indicators point to a good crop.

The family started the year by switching their wheat seed to a new variety that they were hopeful would produce good results.  Subsoil moisture during seeding looked good and encouraged their decision to increase fertilizer application rates in anticipation of a good response.

By mid-summer, their 10,000 acres of wheat, canola, and peas, was looking pretty darn good – so good, in fact, that Brook Haven decided to increase their fungicide application on the wheat and canola, and even on some of their peas for the first time.

Their increase in inputs increased their coverage.

In the end, the family invested an additional $25/acre in inputs over their original plans.  They hoped their increased inputs would translate into $65-75/acre in additional revenue.  In previous years, the decision to chase better yields by increasing inputs was a challenging one.  Was the additional risk worth the potential upside?

With their full-coverage policy, it was different. Knowing they were backed by coverage that insured their additional input costs without increasing their premium, Brook Haven decided to go big knowing their investment and margin was secure.