FMH agent Kim DeLay of DeLay Insurance Agency in Indianola, Iowa, recently wrapped up her fourth acreage reporting season using FMH Precision Crop Insurance Solutions, and she remains impressed with how it makes acreage reporting easier. She introduced Precision Solutions to her customers at farmer meetings a few years ago after learning more about FMH’s solutions. “I want to keep up with farmers’ tech tools,” she said, adding that the convenience and efficiency of Precision Solutions sets her agency apart and provides value. “It’s another added service to offer.”
Her colleague Dee Jay Reynolds, an FMH agent with Southern Iowa Ag Services of Indianola, Iowa, agrees. “It provides more accurate data, with less chance of mistakes,” he said of Precision Solutions.
Together, both agents have seen interest in using precision ag data for crop insurance among their customers. DeLay was surprised at how willing her producers were to try Precision Solutions. “Sometimes people are scared to try new things,” she said. “I’ve been surprised people are so open to it.” She believes customer adoption will continue to increase as early adopters experience the convenience offered by Precision Solutions and word of mouth spreads. “Going forward, more people will hear about it, and it will grow from there.”
Delay plans to invite current customers who use Precision Solutions to her farmer meetings so other customers can talk to them to learn more about it. One of those customers is Chuck Cleveland, a farmer in central Iowa. Cleveland has used Precision Solutions in conjunction with MyJohnDeere for three years.
He echoed DeLay’s comments, saying that he would recommend the MyJohnDeere connection to other producers. “The most important aspect is the premium savings by having actual acres for reporting,” he said.
DeLay added that her customers also appreciate the ease and accuracy of using Precision Solutions. “They like the convenience of not having to wait for FSA reports,” she said. “They can come in and sign – they like to not spend so much time manually reporting.”
A report that may have taken 30 minutes to complete manually can be finished in five minutes with Precision Solutions. In fact, DeLay was recently featured in an FMH Facebook Live video, where her customer used Precision Solutions to report his acres in real time through the FMH Policyholder Center. Total transmission time: 36 seconds.
DeLay and Cleveland have both been impressed with the service FMH has provided throughout the Precision Solutions process, even in challenging situations.
"FMH staff are very kind and very helpful. It’s very comforting to know they’re a call away."
- Kim DeLay FMH Agent
Cleveland has similar high praise: “Branden [Plummer] has helped my agent get acclimated using this, and it’s getting smoother every time.”
Precision Solutions isn’t just for acreage reporting – FMH customers can experience these benefits at harvest, too. If policyholders collect precision ag data and can verify that it is calibrated within three percent, FMH can use the data for production reporting, claim settlements in the event of a loss, and APH reviews. For simplified calibration documentation, policyholders can access electronic calibration reports and submit them to their agent and adjuster through the FMH Policyholder Center.
