"It helps grow my business, as I am able to help support them with the technical questions, and it makes it easier for them to do business with me.
- Betsy Harms, Iowa Agent
FMH agent Betsy Harms uses Precision Solutions and her knowledge of precision technology to offer next-level service for her customers.
Harms not only serves as an agent with Phillips Stafford Insurance Group in Ackley, Iowa, but she is also a Climate dealer and can help farmers set up their Climate FieldView™ software in their farming operations. Climate FieldView is a precision farm management software product that growers use for a number of agronomic decisions. Farmers Mutual Hail can accept FieldView data for seamless crop insurance reporting and quick and simple precision claims as part of FMH Precision Solutions.
“They use the data for the farm; why not crop insurance, too? Precision Solutions is something different to provide to the farmer,” she explained. “I help them report their acres and production for crop insurance, plus I am helping them manage their data on a big scale to make big farming decisions.”
Harms helps her customers with the Automated Crop Reporting (ACR) process. ACR is the process of electronically submitting precision data for acreage or production reporting. FMH accepts data from any farm management software and any color of equipment.
“All of my clients have been happy with the process and have continued to use it as long as their combine monitor was accurate,” she said, adding that there have been only a few times where her client was not confident in their monitor. In those situations, she asks her client to contact her immediately in case she can step in and help – a service she can offer based on her precision technology experience. “Once they have tried it, they don’t want to go back to the old way.”
Not only can precision data make acreage and production reporting faster and more accurate, the data can also be used for faster and more accurate claims. If one of her Precision Solutions customers experiences a loss, she helps ensure they have all the right records available for the adjuster. “This has happened many times. It could be allocating bushels or a hard record of bushels on a certain unit,” she explained. She can provide the farmer with a production summary report from FieldView or direct them on how to print it themselves.
Harms also creates acreage and production map-based combo reports, an added service that is done through FMH’s mapping application. “They have the maps – why not use it one more way?” she said.
When discussing the benefits of Precision Solutions with her customers, Harms makes sure to mention how it can help in keeping production separate to remain compliant. “This use to cause the most headaches with comingled grain,” she noted. She also has fewer appointments with the farmers because she prepares their reports before she meets with them.
Harms not only helps farmers manage their data in FieldView, but she also has experience working with the MyJohnDeere™ platform – a web-based farm management system. Both FieldView and MyJohnDeere connect directly with FMH systems for seamless electronic reporting.
With her in-depth knowledge of both precision technology and crop insurance, she explained how FMH’s Precision Crop Insurance Solutions was “a good tie-in for farmers” and for her business.
Through all these services, she not only maintains a customer relationship with multiple touch points, she positions herself as a trusted advisor for her clients. “It has helped with insured retention,” she said. “They trust me with their data and working with it.”