- And now I'm gonna stop sharing my screen
and get to our topic of the day.
We're talking about liability insurance for farms
open to visitors.
And we are fortunate to have with us Stuart Farnham,
who is the Vice President of Farm Commercial Sales
focused on farms and food manufacturers.
Stuart has formed relationships
with many agricultural associations throughout his years,
working with farmers to meet their insurance needs.
He's a member of the Vermont Farm Bureau
executive committee and board of directors.
And he also is a member
of two Vermont Count Farm Bureau Boards.
He's one of only a few people registered in New England
with the AFIS designation, A-F-I-S.
Stands for Agribusiness and Farm Insurance Specialist.
A prestigious designation
highlighting his farm insurance knowledge and focus.
He has 16 years experience in quality management
in a manufacturing environment with food,
medical devices and consumer goods,
giving him a key knowledge of the processes
and specific insurance needs for this type of business.
And I first came across Stuart Boy.
I wanna say it was like a good 10 years ago or so
when I was working with farms in Vermont
that were open to businesses
and some of them were able to get insurance
to cover their agritourism activities,
and others had a really hard time
finding insurance to cover their agritourism activities.
Sometimes felt like their insurance agent,
they would call it their insurance.
Rather than insurance agent,
they would call it their insurance adversary.
And, you know, it was kind of an out to get
you got your sort of relationship they felt,
or their insurance company would just drop them
once they started doing agritourism activities.
And then I ran into a few different farms
that felt good about their liability insurance.
And it turned out
they were working with a handful of insurers,
a small number of insurers.
One of them was Stuart Farnham.
I'm happy to say that as agritourism has grown
in the past 10, 20 years.
We now have more and more insurance companies
and insurance agents that understand
the importance of these alternative enterprises
and this diversification for farms.
But it still is a challenge
to find affordable and comprehensive insurance.
And we've invited a Stuart here today
to share some of this knowledge
and address some of your questions.
Stuart, would you like to add anything
to that introduction or start with (mumbles)
- That was fantastic, thank you.
No, I don't have anything to add to that.
So I did bring a slide show
that we've done on a previous occasion.
We can go through that just to spark questions,
or we can look at other things.
So do we have any questions in the chat yet,
or should I go through that slide show
and see if we can pick up some?
- We do have a question in the chat,
but I'm gonna say, why don't you just to set the stage?
And I know you Stuart looked at a bunch of the questions
from registration beforehand.
Step the stage by sharing some of the slides
and just talking a little bit about kind of
what insurance means for agritourism activity.
- All right, great.
I will share my screen then.
So again, I'm Stuart Farnham.
I am an agent in Vermont, but I do cover a few states.
So I just want to give a disclaimer
that I see there's more than a dozen states
on the people from a dozen different states
signed in or signed on to attend this.
So I am not licensed in all the states
that are represented on that list.
I don't know all the details.
So I'm gonna try to speak in general terms.
Don't hold me to what I say for your state.
So I am familiar with Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont,
New York, and some Massachusetts rules,
but every state is very different.
So where waivers will work for one state
may not work for another.
And when you have an insurance policy in Vermont,
it may not be applicable as an exact terms in another state.
So just having said that,
I'll run through these slides
and maybe we'll get some questions.
But everybody's circumstances are gonna be very individual
to your own farm and your own needs.
So there's some pictures in this slide show
that will show some specific farms needs.
I did get approval from those farmers to share those photos.
So we'll just have a look through these.
So there's a little bit about myself.
I did grow up on a farm.
My father was the farm mechanic,
and I did throw hay a few summers,
but otherwise we enjoyed the farm itself,
but didn't really partake in the farming activity,
all that regular.
But I am familiar with farms
and that farm is a very popular farm in Rockport, Maine.
It's right on the ocean.
It's pretty, it's beautiful.
So I recommend going visiting.
When you have people on your farm,
you're responsible for their safety.
It doesn't matter if they're visitors
or customers or employees.
You're responsible for everybody to some degree on the farm.
So liability insurance, which is the topic
of this session is another way of sharing the risk.
So agritourism is a relatively new term
and it's defined by every state
and most farmers differently all around.
So you can find a different definition
pretty much in every state.
Here's just a few.
And of course the dictionary is definition of it is as well.
And the USDA and the government.
And everybody has their own individual definition.
So some are similar, some are very different,
but ultimately my definition is very general and vague,
but any activity on the farm
then invites the public on to your farm
is really agritourism,
cause a farming operation in itself
does not require the interaction with the public.
So if you're gonna grow a crop and harvest it,
you can take that crop and sell it
without ever interacting with anybody on your farm.
So the activity of inviting people onto the farm
is a little bit different than farming itself.
So again, what is liability insurance do for you?
Well, it shares the risk.
It shares and protects as far as what do you need?
Well, if you have a home
and you don't have a homeowner's policy,
it may or may not work
as far as protecting you for your farming operation.
So you really need to have a heart to heart conversation
with your agent to find out
if it's going to meet your needs,
or if you need something different.
So identifying those risks
and being very honest with your insurance agent
is something recently that I found out
isn't always true.
Here, we have a couple examples of risk.
Some risks that you need to take notice of.
The top picture is just some clutter
in the corner of a farm.
And it identifies just an attractive nuisance.
Kids love to climb.
That's a nice stack of pallets
and kids will love to climb that
if you don't either move it
or remove it so that it is not an attractive nuisance.
The bottom slide is just manure and mud
and crusted road crossing,
where some cattle would be crossing the road
from a pasture to the milking parlor.
And entrance of a form that is muddy like that,
when it's wet, it's slippery.
And that is just something that you need to take note of
and keep it clean
so that when people are turning in,
they're not crashing into others.
A couple of more pictures, but these are good ones.
These are examples of very good signage and direction.
The top picture says, it's a store.
It has a handicap parking lot space next to the door.
It has a very good signage
and you know exactly where to go and what to do.
So you're limiting your risk by having a lot of signs,
having that access that the handicap access
is to be parked there.
And the bottom picture,
again, using signage also has some cones up
to separate people walking versus the parking lot.
They have a port-a-potty right by the door,
which is very visible
and you don't have to go looking for it,
which is handy and they also had
hand-washing stations there as well.
So farm liability is very varying.
It's everything to do with the operation.
So one thing I hear a lot of is if I'm insured as a farm,
I should be insured for everything I do.
Well, insurance companies
categorize each individual type of activity
and corn maze isn't the same as a summer camp,
and a petting farm is not a pick your own.
So all those things do get a different rate
and a different category on the policy for the liability.
And sales as it relates to each particular category
is how you're going to pay for those types of coverages.
So your agent's going to need to know
a very individual per risk rate
on great meaning your sales based on that activity.
So liability types.
Like I said, it's describes everything,
but we're talking about business as well as property.
So if you have a farm,
you could to be talking about
the liability of the actual product itself,
as well as the location
where somebody might be coming to buy it.
So if you have a farm stand,
you can cover the premise as with a farm policy,
as well as the liability of the sales itself.
So if somebody chokes on the maple syrup cap,
that's product, whereas if they trip and fall
in their driveway, that's premise liability.
So a couple of different ways to look at everything.
So it's important to have detailed conversations
with your agent
about covering everything you're concerned about.
Liquor liability is one of those things
but I really won't get into the details
on this varying state cause Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine,
the states that I'm familiar with
for the most part is each state is very different
and they all treat it very differently.
So to have activity on your farm with liquor
is very different per state.
So that is it for that slide show.
- Shall we start peppering you with questions?
- Yes, please, well that,
and we have some previously prepared questions,
but yes, please.
- Okay, I'm gonna start with one of the questions
that was sent in through registration,
which is how do you find an insurance agent
willing to offer a liability insurance coverage
for agritourism activities?
- So there are a few tools.
Like Lisa said on the introduction,
I am an AFIS certified agent.
And AFIS is a designation
that you go through quite a bit of training
and then recertification and you attend classes annually.
AFIIS is also a designation that you can Google
and find their website,
and find an agent that is certified in AFIS and by state,
and find one that is more familiar
because somebody that's certified in AFIS
is meaning they're specializing in farm insurance.
Another tool is nationwide has an agent farmer,
nationwide insurance is one of the coverages that we do.
We sell with nationwide insurance, our primary insurer.
They are the largest farm insure in the United States,
but they have a tool called agent finder.
I put that in that word document
that I don't have in front of me,
but I think it's agent finder or agent farm insurance.
You have it Lisa?
farmagentfinder.com, I think it is, yep.
- Yeah, you just click on that.
- Yep, click on that, put in your zip code,
you'll find some agent choices.
We are an elite farm certified agent,
meaning we specialize in farm insurance.
We have a lot more tools in our toolbox
to use for farm insurance than most.
I would find an elite farm certified agent close to you
that's licensed in your state
and they can answer your questions
or at least give you a direction
to go in if they're to help or not.
- I'm gonna add to that question if you don't mind.
- No, please.
- Talk to other farmers, tell them the real scoop.
- Yeah, and other farmers similar farmers.
- Find a farm that's offering the activities
or products that your thinking about
that you're thinking of offering,
at least in Vermont.
But I think if this is true all throughout the Northeast,
we've got this incredible network of farmers
that are so willing to help each other.
So even if you don't know the farm,
if you give them a ring or stop by there,
fill out their form on their website,
the nice thing about farms open to visitors
is they tend to be very easy to reach
and to contact and very responsive,
and ask them, who are you working with?
How's your coverage?
How do you like it?
Get the inside scoop.
- That should have been my first answer
because I had over 30 referrals this spring from clients.
So yeah, it's a great tool and I appreciate it.
People share me, so...
- All right, we got a few questions coming in through chat
and we'll try to get through all of them,
but maybe not exact like in the order they come in.
Here's a question that says,
is there a difference between insuring a farm business
versus a non-profit that owns the farm?
- Maybe, so who I guess I would need to know
the entity that owns the farm versus operates it.
So if a nonprofit is the operating entity,
it's a very different entity to ensure
versus a for-profit farmer or business.
So non non-profits trusts those types of things
are different to insure.
And a lot of companies shy away from covering
those types of entities based on profits payment,
that type of thing.
So we would have to know a lot of the specifics
to answer that appropriately.
- And I'm gonna say that with Stuart's permission,
we're gonna share his phone number
and email address after this session here.
So for questions that get very specific
and into the details, feel free to bug him about it.
This is what he does.
- Yep, and if you're in a different state,
I do have associates friends in the business
all across the United States.
So I can try to put you in touch
if I know somebody in that state or close to it.
- Here's another one that is in chat.
Is can you speak to agritourism liability
specifically for pick your own operations?
- I can speak to it.
It is a specific need.
Some companies will insure and some some may not,
but it all depends on how,
I guess the one pick your own type activity
that some companies don't like is choosing,
cut your own Christmas trees.
But depending on how you're doing it with a handsaw
or power tool.
But pick your own,
it's an activity that's becoming more and more popular.
You need to make sure that you have the right signage.
We've been to farms that do signage well,
and I've been to a farms that don't,
but I am a lover of signage,
because I don't wanna wonder where I should go
and what I should do.
I wanna know where you want me to be
and what you want me to do.
So clear signage is imperative to pick your own operations,
especially in a field.
If it's a strawberry operation,
I think it's pretty clear,
but your strawberry field may not be visible
from the parking lot.
Getting people from one place to another
is something we're seeing different farms do different,
better, better on this, not so good on that.
I don't know specifically what you wanna know
about pick your own.
I'm happy to talk to you about specifics on that,
but it isn't a normal activity on a farm.
And any time that you allow people to go into the field,
you're opening up a little bit more risk
whether you have a ditch or a hole
that somebody can twist their ankle in.
If you're making it accessible
to people that have disabilities,
those are above and beyond what we would might normally see.
But I think that's more important these days
to make sure that you're making those accommodations.
- Yeah, here's another question that just came in that,
that we might need an attorney for,
but we sort of brought an attorney here, but...
- I am not.
- The question is,
if we as a nonprofit tree nursery post assign
that a visitor enters at their own risk,
are we protected from liability?
And I think we can generalize that
to whether you're a nonprofit or not.
If you're posting a sign
that visitors enter at your own risk,
are you protected from liability?
- The simple answer is no.
But the complicated answer is it helps.
Any attempt to educate your customers
on the risks that they're going to take,
whether it's a sign or a waiver,
I think that it's headed in the right direction,
but by itself, it's just a tool.
It will not solve the problem.
- And I'm gonna add that
there are agritourism limited liability statutes
in several states.
And if your state has one of those,
make sure you get the officially approved sign and post it.
Part of the regulation.
Vermont just recently passed legislation
that will go into effect July, 1,
that will add some additional protection
for agritourism operators.
So we're expecting to be working with
the Vermont agency of ag to be distributing signs
and making those available to farms that,
again, these limited liability statutes
that are available in some states,
they provide an additional layer of protection.
If the farm truly is negligent,
they don't go all the way with the protection.
- And I think most of those started in the realm of skiing.
Downhill skiing was one of the first
limited liability businesses
that really started those those rules, those laws.
- Yes, Carrie, do you wanna grab some more questions
from the registration list?
- Sure, I'll ask one question that came in.
Somebody asked what drives the price of liability insurance,
and specifically how summer camps to our helper programs
and children's farm yards
and walking trails might affect their insurance costs?
- Sure, obviously anything that is risky
is possibly more expensive.
So whenever you're working with an activity,
farming is one of the more dangerous businesses to be in,
and then inviting children onto that farm,
it becomes a little bit more, maybe more risk,
but some companies are gonna look at that
a little bit more inviting than others.
So by finding one of those insurers
that are used to insuring farms
and having that type of risk,
they're gonna be a little bit more affordable.
Of course, one of the other things
that drives the pricing is claims.
So a company that has a lot of claims
and a particular business class
will probably have a higher price
to accommodate that pricing,
so that they can afford to pay on claims.
Kind of a mixture between
whenever you have children, livestock.
I think you, you mentioned in that question
that chore helper,
I would assume that chore helper
is meaning helping train kids for what work is
and how to do work and that type of thing.
What chores are being responsible, yeah.
Working with tools, physical labor,
any activity like that is opening up for some risks,
injury, a lot of things going on in that question.
I would just say
that look at each end activity individually.
Anytime you're gonna include kids,
you're gonna have an additional layer of risk,
you're gonna have to plan for the worst
and then train for the best.
- Okay, yeah, always challenging.
Here's another question that came in earlier,
and this is our insurance agent told us
that nationwide would not insures
and many others would not either,
because we host classes and workshops
on occasion that involve working with herbs.
Insurance is pretty expensive
because of this one specific point.
Is there a clear reason for this?
We're not selling homemade herbal products for our farm
and the attendees make their own product
with guidance from an instructor teacher?
Is that something you're able to address Stuart
or get in specific?
We'll make it (indistinct)
- Yeah, no, it's specific.
Yeah, I don't know if that was something
I had faced in the past or not.
I'm sure that's a lot of people growing herbs
and doing that type of activity.
I've heard that from their from their agent
and the companies they represent.
Yeah, it's a training issue as well as the activity.
So anytime you're using herbs
and portraying their powers, maybe,
I think some insurance companies shy away from that activity
in the event that they don't know the enough information.
So they consider it some risks.
Are you making potions?
Are you just putting together some common elixirs in
or you're just making ice tea?
I don't know the details of that,
but, yeah, I guess it comes down to,
the company doesn't know enough information
so they just say no.
But I think the more information
that the insurance company can find out,
the better off that you are
for the answer that you're looking for.
So if you're certified, if you're you're educated in herbs,
if you're capable of mixing up
all those concoctions appropriately,
and you can show that they may be tested, I don't know.
But anytime you can get a third party involved to say,
you know what you're doing,
you're more likely to get coverage.
Even though you may not be mixing something and selling it,
you're still educating somebody else on what you know,
and opening up for risk.
Somebody else can say,
well, you told me I could do this,
and now it's interacting with medication I take,
and I'm injured.
- And I'll ask you another question that came in
through the registration.
This one is in general talking about lack of insurance.
I think it's saying,
will inviting people onto the farm cost us the farm?
- Well, yeah, maybe (laughs) it could.
I think having the appropriate insurance
for the appropriate risk is important.
And I had said in the slide show
that it's important to tell your farm agent
everything that you're doing and they can help you.
So if you're not honest with them,
they're not gonna be able to protect,
they'll sell you the right product
and help you protect your farm.
Liability insurance is probably the least expensive
million dollars you'd ever pay for.
So if you think about it in that respect,
that you can get up to a million dollars
or more depending on how you structure it
for a few hundred in some cases, a few thousand and others,
but that's affordable.
But most people don't view it in that regard.
So I hope that answers that question,
but the answer is,
yes, you could certainly lose the farm it's up recent.
There's been a few cases across the country where,
whether it was a hay ride or a product sales
where people did end up losing the farm,
because of a liability claim.
- I'm gonna say the other flip side though,
is it could help you keep the farm
if you're looking to diversify your income
and really connect with communities and visitors.
So yes, you need to be careful
when you have visitors onto your farm,
but with taking the appropriate precautions,
so many farms are doing it really successfully,
and many of you are here with us today.
- Right, well, I think that's important to say,
because I tend to get negative
when we're talking about that type of thing.
But yes, if you do your homework and work with an agent,
you're gonna pay a little bit of money
to get the proper coverage.
But it doesn't have to cost you the farm
if you're doing your homework and getting that all upfront.
Yeah, it can be a good thing.
And we've seen some excellent operations
as far as agritourism and petting farms.
I was want to stay the petting zoo,
but that's not right.
Yeah, it can be a an excellent operation.
Some people are very attentive to the details.
Here's another question that's in chat.
How in depth should the signage around the farm be?
Thinking about animals, electric fences, hand-washing,
so even beyond the parking area, CSA in store area,
how in depth than how much shine should there be?
- Lisa, this is I think how we met.
We were talking and reviewing farms and their signage.
You had the signs available,
and I have yet to see a farm do too many signs.
So I don't know if that tells you anything about
my view on signage,
but of course, you really need to know your clientele.
If you're putting signs up in English
and they only do is read Spanish,
the signage isn't gonna help you.
So you really need to understand who's coming to your farm,
what you need for signage and make sure it's appropriate.
But for the most part,
I don't think you can have enough signs,
but that's me.
- Yeah, and all that the signs have to all be,
no, don't do this, or don't enter here.
Visitors really appreciate
signage that directs them in positive ways
and let's them understand what's going on
and it can also be fun and educational
with pictures and different languages.
This is actually quite a while ago,
we were able to get some signage through a USDA AFIS grant,
and we still have some of that signage available
and are still giving that out.
So if you think you might need some additional signage
for your farm,
feel free to reach out to us
and we'll see what your needs are
and see what we can provide.
And also, a lot of farms are very creative.
So it doesn't have to cost a lot of money.
A lot of farms are very creative
about handmade signage that really shows the character
and the spirit of the place.
And that's all part of showing your farm
and telling your farm story.
- I'll add to that.
You can Google or go on Amazon and look for a signage.
There are storybooks that are available,
that you can post in your corn maze as an example.
And kids can read a book as they go through the maze.
So each sign would be maybe a page or a paragraph,
and they'll read a whole book by the time they're done,
but there's a lot of signage out there that's like that.
And it keeps people and kids interested in
maybe getting through the maze,
cause it might not depending on the size of it,
but could need something extra.
- Here's another one in chat
which is curious as to how towns
hosting community gardens protect themselves.
Is that something you can address?
- I'm not very well.
Community gardens are a very tough category to ensure.
So you would have to have the right agent
with the right contacts and insurance options.
And it would probably not be a standard market.
It would probably be an excess or surplus lines,
company that would be interested in sharing line.
- All right, any other, let's see,
I think there was a question in chat way at the beginning.
And again, I don't know if this is something you can answer.
We are having difficulty finding workers' comp,
suggestions on what to do there.
And I'm gonna say,
well, I'm directing these questions to Stuart.
All of you may have experience and answers yourself.
So feel free to type into chat
or raise your hand and we'll unmute you
and help us out here,
especially when we're not sure of the answers.
- So as far as worker's camp and finding it,
it's the same question as to
how do you find farm insurance
in the right agent ethics thing.
So you've got to find somebody that you can work with,
somebody who's interested in helping you.
Usually the farm insurance specialists,
elite farm certified people with nationwide
or other companies are going to be the ones
that know what you need.
If you just asking, you know,
run of the mill agent,
they may not have any experience with farming specific
and may not be interested in helping.
So their initial answer is no, I don't have that.
Yeah, I would recommend finding agent
that specializes or knows farming.
Then, they can help you a little better.
But that's a question that's gonna depend on your state
and what the requirements there are.
Some states have exemptions
where they don't require workers' comp
within the first amount of payroll
and some states require it for the first dollar paid.
So it's going to depend on the state that you're in.
There was another question about whether insurance,
if insurance is mandatory,
or if customers need to have a sign, a waiver,
to address whether or not you need insurance,
that's between you and maybe your lender.
So if you have a bank involved
that requires you to have insurance on buildings
or an activity of,
like if you have a farm and you owe money on the home,
but everything else is owned free and clear,
you may have a homeowners policy.
Not all homeowners companies
are interested in ensuring a farm operation.
So it's important to know upfront with your insurer,
if they allow those businesses to be run from the home.
As far as insurance being mandatory in general,
it depends on what you're doing.
If you're selling at a farmer's market,
that market may require insurance.
If you're selling wholesale to a business
and your strawberries are to the local store,
they may require you to have insurance
and supply them with proof of insurance.
But in general, it's a good idea, I think,
to have insurance for your business.
If you think of your farm as a business, in every case,
then that would be the answer that I would say.
But I think a lot of people,
if you're just selling cucumbers in the season,
cause you have an overabundance
when they start ripening on the vine,
then your homeowners may cover that,
but again, you would need to ask your agent.
As far as a waiver,
I think waivers are our great tool,
and they certainly serve a need.
And you should review the waiver with maybe some counsel,
if you have a lawyer that you know and trust,
or maybe I know that the extension has been involved
in some cases with helping people with waivers
and discussing the details on that.
But waivers are very specific to each state.
If you don't have the right wording in each case,
then they can absolutely serve no purpose whatsoever,
but I think it's important to get good advice
from somebody that's knowledgeable about what it says
and how it protects you.
- One of the questions that showed up in chats
that's relatively specific, but is an important one,
is how would a guest be covered while volunteering
at say a nonprofit tree nursery?
- That's a case that I've actually had happen.
I think it's a state specific question,
as well as a specific insurance company question.
Some companies require if they're writing your workers' comp
or farm insurance,
they may require you to ensure your volunteers as employees.
So you really need to know what their requirements are
and how they deal with that.
Some companies don't.
So if you're paying your volunteers with some produce
and maybe I don't know, maple syrup is a common one,
then that's a form of pay.
If they're truly just a volunteer
and they get nothing in return,
it may be okay in that state
and your farm policy
may have some ability to pick up some liability on that.
But you would have to really have a good discussion
with your agent and figure out what is covered
and what isn't and how you need to address that.
But volunteers in general,
there isn't any way to say, oh yeah, volunteers are great.
Volunteers are great.
There aren't enough volunteers in the world, I don't think.
But it's a good way to get people familiar with farming.
And they fall in love with it.
They get their own farm, that type of thing.
But yeah, it's specific to the state
and the companies that you're involved with.
- Here's another question that came in early,
came in through an email,
is our board needs a clear definition of insurance.
We should have sources for waivers of liability forms,
because we are starting with a specific nonprofit mission.
So recommendations for a board of a non-profit farm
do not leave themselves vulnerable.
What are your suggestions there?
- Again, nonprofits are a very different
than a mom and pop owned a facility.
So I think 98% of farms in the United States
are owned by individuals.
So a nonprofit is not the common farm view.
I mean, it's not the one that you find in every case.
So it's specific to your state
and it'll be specific
to the company that's looking and ensuring it.
You would have to work with them
to find out what they'll accept
and what they were willing to ensure
as far as protecting the board.
Anytime you have a board and a nonprofit,
whether it's for-profit or non-profit,
a board needs protections on their own.
So there are insurance coverages
where the board itself directors and officers coverages,
in addition to the activity of the farm itself.
It adds another layer of complication to ensuring a farm,
but certainly doable with the right agent.
I know that's not gonna answer the question (laughs)
That one's a tough one
cause it really depends on where you are.
- And I have another question I'll ask that came in early
in the registration.
Someone asked, I would like to know the basics
about liability coverage for farm education
and what is recommended or necessary.
- I think Working, you know,
previous work history on a farm is certainly helpful.
If you're gonna grow vegetables
and you worked on a vegetable farm for a year or two,
that's certainly going to help in saying,
you have experience, if I think that's the question.
But anytime you have experience
in doing whatever you're looking to start a business in,
whether it was your business
or somebody else's that you work for,
that's going to be what a company is gonna be looking for.
If you have college experience
and you majored in something like herd health,
or, you know, those things are gonna go a long way.
I know companies now and insurance companies
also look for certifications.
So anytime you get certified in activity,
whether it's food safety, FISMA, HASEP, GAP,
yeah, all those things are gonna go a long way
in helping the insurance company feel comfortable.
- Another question that came in earlier was,
are there special considerations
for visits by special needs youth
or traumatized youth
visiting through their nonprofit service providers?
- So I think there are special circumstances
that you need to work with them, work with that provider
and find out what you need to do to accommodate.
I do ensure some horse operations,
I do special needs lessons
with hands-on experience with horses,
they work very closely
with the services that they're providing the service for,
as well as the understanding the kids,
or the adults that they're they're doing in that activity.
I think you really have to plan that type of activity.
You have to plan a bit more in that type of activity
than you would otherwise.
Just to understand what is involved and what you need to do.
But I don't see it as a,
I don't see it as the roadblock.
I would say that that's definitely something
that you can plan and accommodate.
If you can do it in a horse operation,
she should be able to do it with pick your own strawberries,
but they don't bite.
- All right, I don't see any more questions
in the chat right now.
So we have a survey for you.
We wanna check in with you
and find out how this worked out for you.
So Carrie is gonna drop the survey link
into the chat right now.
And if you're willing to take just a couple of minutes
to fill out this survey link.
While we're doing that,
I'll make some closing remarks.
And Stuart, do you wanna make any closing remarks?
- Yeah, I think there was a question...
While people are doing the survey,
there was some comment earlier in,
one of the other questions I didn't address
about walking trails.
I know lot of farms have a lot of acreage.
It's wonderful when they share that with people.
And I think it gives a lot of goodwill
for people to see and understand farms
and that they're trying to educate.
So walking trails are great.
And again, signage, that type of thing is important,
but if you do a walking trail,
make sure your insure understands that you're doing it
and that it's open to the public.
If you're doing cross country skiing
or any other activities on those trails,
a lot of insurance companies allow it
and may not even charge for it.
But if they don't know about it,
they don't even have a chance to help you with it.
I think it's necessary to talk about all those things
whether you think it's insignificant or significant.
But I think those things need to be discussed,
but walking trails, I think are fantastic.
Bicycles are getting more and more popular
also as on-farm activity.
And I think more and more farmers are actually using that
to their advantage of selling product
as well as charging for the trails that they might have.
- And I think there's always a little bit of tension
as a farmer when you're opening up your farm too.
Well, should I mention this to my insurance agent?
It's just people coming here for a walk or,
and, you know, if I mentioned it,
how much more are they gonna charge me?
So I think there's a little bit of a tension of,
do I really have to bring it up
or can it just kinda happen and everything will be okay?
- Well, I'm glad you brought that up
because quite frankly,
I've been hearing that more lately than I had ever before.
If you don't have an open dialogue with your agent,
the worst question that could be asked is,
was I covered for that?
And to have that to be no,
which could be the answer,
means you're paying out of pocket for that.
And the whole purpose of having insurance
is to share in the risks.
So if you're not gonna be open
and discuss those risks with your agents,
then I think that you're missing the mark on
why you have it in the first place.
So if you want to share that risk,
then I think that to be honest is the best policy
on that one.
But, yeah, the insurance companies are gonna charge
for everything individually and for the most part.
- Say, I'm gonna give one final bit of advice
that I don't know, Stuart how you feel about this,
but I always tell farm shop around,
especially when they're looking for, you know,
looking for their insurance.
Call a few different agents,
and talk to your neighbors, talk to farmers,
see who they like, have a few agents come over,
visit your farm, talk to them,
look at the policies and the prices,
and also look at, you know, which agents you feel,
have your back and really understand what you're doing.
- So as a service to my clients,
if they get a quote from somebody else
and they they're thinking about taking it, I offer a review.
I'm probably an oddity in that regard.
Cause I'd rather have somebody happy
and to have the right coverage
than to not have it at all.
I offer them a review,
whether they're coming to me or leaving me,
but I wanna make sure that they have the right coverage
and that they're comparing apples to apples.
A lot of agents, I wouldn't say a lot.
I've run into a few agents
that may not have been above board with the coverages
and not every company is the same.
So I would say if you can find a mutual insurance company,
that would be the first thing I would look for.
And then they're more likely to pay on a claim
than for-profit stockholder owned company.
It's not easy to pick those types of things
when there were only a few providers out there
for farms anyway.
- All right, well, Stuart, I'm gonna put up a final slide
with a couple of closing remarks,
unless you have anything you want to add
or any questions that we missed?
- Would it be great to see the results of this poll.
- Okay, yes, oh, and I should mention
this survey is anonymous.
So say whatever you want.
We don't know who's answering yet.
The link is in chat.
I got to move to the next slide here.
Let's say, yeah, the link for the survey is in chat.
So please take a moment now to fill it out.
We are recording this and we will send an email afterwards,
as soon as the recording is posted.
And in that email,
we'll also send out a bunch of links
that we put into chat today.
The link to the signage
and the limited liability statute,
and some of the other resources that we posted
will include that information in the email.
We do have a few more of these weekly sessions coming up.
Next week on June 1st,
again, a Tuesday, these are all Tuesdays,
we'll be back in the evening
talking about cultivating farm
and food safety for visitors,
and we've got a food safety expert
and some others that University of New Hampshire Extension
that have taken some videos of farms there,
and there'll be showing some of the best practices,
and you'll also hear from the farmers.
And then the following week June 8th,
time to be determined,
we'll be talking about farm-based education
in a post COVID world.
And that will be led by Vera Simon-Nobes
from Shelburne Farms and the Farm-Based Education Network.
And then the following Tuesday,
we've got Penn State Extension
organizing another session and that's at 2 O'clock
and that will be on Overnight Farm Stays
and Farm Tours.
And the got another great speaker.
They kicked off this series on pick your own
and they've got another great speaker
who's also a farmer that's lined up for June 15th.
And then, you know, we'll see if you have ideas for topics.
Let us know.
We know this is a really busy time for everyone.
So we may take a break from these,
but we'll be continuing with the on-farm visits.
Some of you may have already met with Chadley Hollis,
who I think is here with us.
And Chadley are you around to say a couple of words
about the on-farm visits that you've been doing?
- [Chadley] I am, thank you for introducing me.
I am Chadley.
I am doing on-farm assessments
regarding safety in the Northeast region.
So wherever you are in the Northeast,
if you're on this call,
I am able and willing to come see you.
I believe a link was put into the chat
where you can sign up for a visit.
Currently, I've got a long trip plan to Maine,
that's actually already sewed up,
but I'm planning a second trip,
because we've got so many farms in Maine
that are interested.
Yeah, gonna keep planning things.
I'll likely be coming to your state
in the next few months.
Fill out the signup form and I'll be in touch with you.
Thank you, Lisa.
- All right, and I wanna close by thanking Stuart
and thanking all of you for joining us today
and sending us those questions in advance
and putting them in chat.
We hope this was helpful
and hope to see you next week.
- Thank you.