Warren Buffett once said, “Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming
naked.”

A lot of Ohio farms are carrying insurance that looks fine on paper until something actually goes wrong.

That usually becomes obvious after a major fire, tornado, equipment loss, liability claim, or livestock issue. At that time, it’s too late to fix coverage gaps.

The reality is most farms today are operating more like businesses than the old “family farm” policies were designed for. Equipment values have exploded, liability exposures are higher, buildings cost far more to rebuild. And many farms now have implemented additional operations that create risks their policies never contemplated.

If a farm wants to be fully protected from catastrophic loss, there are several areas that need serious attention.

First is property coverage.

Think for a minute about barns, machine sheds, grain bins, livestock facilities, shops, and the home itself. Are they all listed and properly valued on the policy? The biggest mistake I see is outdated replacement cost values. A building insured for what it cost 15 years ago may now be hundreds of thousands short after inflation and construction costs.

The same problem exists with equipment.

Combines, tractors, skid steers, planters, sprayers, and hay equipment are expensive enough now that one uninsured or underinsured loss can seriously damage a farm financially. Farmers should know whether equipment is covered for actual cash value or replacement cost because there’s a massive difference when a claim happens.

Liability coverage is another major issue.

A basic farm liability policy may not fully protect against today’s risks. Custom farming operations, agritourism, roadside stands or farmers markets, UTV use, hired help, and hauling exposures can all create gaps if they aren’t properly disclosed and covered.

Then there’s umbrella coverage

This is often the most overlooked piece of protection on Ohio farms. A severe accident involving equipment, a roadway incident, or a serious injury claim can easily exceed standard liability limits. Umbrella coverage is what helps protect the farm, land, savings, and future income from a catastrophic lawsuit.

Crop insurance also matters, but it’s only one piece of the puzzle.

A lot of farmers think crop coverage means they’re fully protected. It doesn’t. Crop insurance helps with production and revenue loss, but it does not replace proper property, liability, equipment, livestock, or business coverage.

Livestock operations have their own concerns as well.

Coverage for mortality, equipment breakdown, ventilation failure, contamination, and spoilage can become critical depending on the operation. One power outage or system failure can create devastating losses in a matter of hours.

The farms that tend to have the biggest problems after a loss are usually not reckless operations. They’re good operators who simply haven’t reviewed their insurance in years.

That’s understandable. Farming moves fast, and coverage often gets renewed automatically without anyone stopping to ask whether the policy still matches the operation as it exists today.

A good insurance review should answer questions like:

If a major fire happened tomorrow, could every building actually be rebuilt?
Are equipment values still accurate?
Are all farming operations properly disclosed?
Is liability coverage high enough to survive a catastrophic claim?
Are newer exposures creating uninsured gaps?

Those are the conversations worth having before something happens, not after.

If you own a farm in Ohio and haven’t reviewed your coverage recently, now is a good time to do it. Contacting Richey-Barrett Insurance is the easiest thing to do to ensure a properly protected farm. Even a quick second opinion can uncover gaps that could become very expensive later.

And if everything already looks good, at least you’ll know for sure that you aren’t the one swimming naked.