Farm Progress

Have the rains flooded and damaged your crops?

5 steps for reporting crop damage from heavy rainfall.

Chris Torres, Editor, American Agriculturist

July 30, 2018

1 Min Read
DAMAGE DEALT: If your fields have been inundated by the recent rains or you see crop damage, report it as soon as possible to your crop insurance agent.John Vogel

The deluge in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic will likely mean some farmers will have to file a crop insurance claim.

So, what are the first steps to reporting damage to your crops? Here’s some information gleaned from the USDA’s Risk Management Agency on when and how to file a claim:

1. Report crop damage within 72 hours of seeing it.

2. File the claim before replanting your crops. Many insurance policies have replanting payments.

3. If loss is possible, report the damage at least 15 days before harvest begins.

4. Report damage within 15 days after harvesting is finished — by insurance unit — or the end of the insurance period.

5. Don’t destroy the evidence. You need visual evidence to support your claim.

About the Author

Chris Torres

Editor, American Agriculturist

Chris Torres, editor of American Agriculturist, previously worked at Lancaster Farming, where he started in 2006 as a staff writer and later became regional editor. Torres is a seven-time winner of the Keystone Press Awards, handed out by the Pennsylvania Press Association, and he is a Pennsylvania State University graduate.

Torres says he wants American Agriculturist to be farmers' "go-to product, continuing the legacy and high standard (former American Agriculturist editor) John Vogel has set." Torres succeeds Vogel, who retired after 47 years with Farm Progress and its related publications.

"The news business is a challenging job," Torres says. "It makes you think outside your small box, and you have to formulate what the reader wants to see from the overall product. It's rewarding to see a nice product in the end."

Torres' family is based in Lebanon County, Pa. His wife grew up on a small farm in Berks County, Pa., where they raised corn, soybeans, feeder cattle and more. Torres and his wife are parents to three young boys.

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