If you’re a farmer, you need crops to grow in order to run a successful business and provide for your family. No harvest means no income. How is one to ensure that there is enough of a harvest to properly run the farm? If you guessed using fertilizer, whether chemical or natural, you are correct. But what happens in the event of an accidental spill? How is a farmer to protect him or herself from accidental pollution-related expenses?

Fertilizer is cheap. You can get it naturally from livestock, or purchase chemical fertilizer from a distributor, such as Ashland Crop Service Inc. in Ashland, Ohio. What happens if you accidentally hit the storage tank or shed with your combine, backhoe, or other heavy machinery, causing a large fertilizer spill? This creates a potential pollution liability issue for a farmer’s property and that of others, due to the leaching of important nutrients, namely Nitrogen and Phosphorus.

Nitrogen and Phosphorus, in too high of a concentration, can prove deadly to plants and animals and can cause any number of health issues for humans. Runoff can occur when rainwater washes excess amounts of the nutrients from the initial spill site and carries it elsewhere, such as the neighbor’s land, or a nearby lake, leading to eutrophication. Eutrophication is defined as excess algae growth which leads to oxygen depletion in bodies of water, the death of aquatic organisms, and has the potential to disturb whole ecosystems.

While a solid fertilizer management plan can help prevent an accidental spill, we can design a customized farm insurance package to ensure you’re protected from this event. If you experienced this, how would you cover the costs to clean up both your land and the land owned by others? We can offer coverage for up to $25,000 for cleanup and removal of pollutants on your own property and up to $1 million on others’. Does your insurance offer adequate pollution liability coverage? Contact your Trusted Choice agents at Richey-Barrett Insurance in Westlake, Ohio at 440.835.4800 for a no-cost, no-obligation consultation. Should you suffer a loss, you’ll be glad to have us as a partner on your side.