AGRICULTURE INSURANCE
BLIS helps agricultural owners protect land-based operations, buildings, equipment, vehicles, employees, products, visitors, and income. Coverage is shaped around what you grow or produce and how the business changes from one season to the next.
Built around the season
Protect the operation year-round
Review property, equipment, employees, vehicles, liability, and changing seasonal needs in one conversation.
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Share your contact information and a few basics about your business. A licensed BLIS representative will review your request.
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Submitting this request does not bind coverage or guarantee a quote. BLIS is licensed in California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Florida. CA License 0M74955.
Sending this form does not start coverage or guarantee a quote, price, or coverage result. BLIS will review what you send and may ask for a few more details before discussing available options.
Your business
Agricultural insurance starts with the way the operation earns its living. What you produce, who does the work, which equipment is essential, how vehicles are used, and whether visitors come onto the property all shape the coverage.
Property coverage can protect barns, processing buildings, cold storage, irrigation systems, and other structures against covered losses. Mobile equipment often needs an inland marine or equipment floater, which can follow scheduled machinery between fields and locations. Values should reflect what equipment costs to replace today—not what it cost years ago.
Workers' compensation requirements and classifications vary by state and by the work employees perform. Seasonal crews, equipment operators, and packing or processing staff may be rated differently. Keeping payroll organized by role and updating estimates when the season changes helps owners plan for the year-end audit.
Farm auto covers vehicles used on public roads, including pickups, flatbeds, and utility trucks. Personal auto policies may exclude regular business use. Farm or commercial auto may be appropriate when vehicles haul products, move materials, or transport workers.
General liability can protect more than field operations. Wineries and tasting rooms may need product and liquor liability, while farm stays, harvest events, tours, and pick-your-own programs bring visitors onto the property. Retail nurseries face similar customer-related concerns.
Crop and hail insurance follows specialized program rules and is separate from the commercial policies that protect property, equipment, liability, auto, and employees. BLIS does not place federal crop insurance directly, but we can help coordinate the conversation with qualified crop specialists so owners can consider the full picture.
Businesses we help
Choose the business type closest to yours to see the everyday risks, coverage choices, and information that may matter when you request a quote.
Farm property, inland marine for viticulture equipment, farm auto, workers comp for vineyard labor, and GL for on-site operations and events.
Product liability, liquor liability, tasting room GL, equipment coverage, workers comp, and farm auto for licensed winery operations.
Property and inventory coverage, general liability for retail customer access, commercial auto, and workers comp for nursery and greenhouse operations.
Farm property, equipment coverage, workers comp for harvest labor, farm auto, and GL for direct-sale and agritourism activities on orchard properties.
Farm property, equipment floater for farm machinery, workers comp for seasonal field labor, and farm auto for crop production operations.
Coverage
These are common coverages to consider, not a one-size-fits-all package. What makes sense depends on how you operate, your contracts, state requirements, and the policy options available.
Barns, processing buildings, cold storage, greenhouses, the outbuildings around them — agricultural structures need property coverage built for the use. Standard commercial forms may skip a detached outbuilding, equipment storage, or crop held in storage without an endorsement. Farm owner's forms are made for the mix of home and working structures on a real farm. Each form runs its own conditions and exclusions. Read them before a claim, not after one.
Farm equipment moves among fields, access roads, and sometimes public highways. Inland marine can protect tractors, harvesters, sprayers, irrigation equipment, and specialty tools away from a fixed location. List machinery at current replacement value, and confirm that new purchases and leased units are included.
Agricultural workers' compensation follows state-specific rules and rates that can differ by job. Seasonal field labor, equipment operation, and packing or processing may not share one classification. If you use a labor contractor, confirm before the season whether those workers are covered by the contractor or need to be addressed in your own plan.
Vehicles regularly used for farm business on public roads may need farm or commercial auto coverage. This can include pickups, flatbeds, utility vehicles, and trucks moving products or crews. Confirm that each vehicle is classified for its actual use, especially for delivery routes, market trips, or frequent off-property driving.
General liability can respond to covered bodily injury and property damage claims connected to farm operations. A tasting room, pick-your-own program, farm stay, harvest event, or retail nursery adds public access that a production-only farm may not have. Tell your insurance advisor before opening the gate so the policy can be reviewed for those activities.
A winery or tasting room may need product liability for wine and other goods it sells, plus liquor liability for claims connected to alcohol served or furnished. The right structure depends on licensing, tasting-room activity, events, sales volume, and distribution. Coverage terms and availability vary.
Coverage examples
A few situations to make coverage concrete. These are illustrations only — not actual claims, and not a guarantee of any coverage outcome.
Example scenario: A farm hosts a seasonal harvest event and invites the public for a guided tour and pick-your-own activity. A visitor trips in an uneven area near a growing row and is injured. The farm's GL policy can help respond to the visitor's injury claim and associated defense costs — if the policy's classification includes agritourism activities.
Operations that begin hosting public events after the policy is written should confirm their GL classification covers those activities. Some farm policies restrict coverage to working farm operations only. Coverage depends on the policy's terms, conditions, and exclusions.
Example scenario: A specialty piece of harvest equipment is scheduled on an inland marine equipment floater. It is damaged while being transported between field locations on a county road. The damage occurs off the primary farm premises. An inland marine floater written for mobile agricultural equipment can respond to physical damage to scheduled machinery in transit and in the field.
A standard property policy may restrict coverage to a fixed insured location. The claim response depends on the floater's covered causes of loss, the scheduled value of the equipment, and the deductible in place. Coverage depends on the policy's terms, conditions, and exclusions.
The claim scenarios above are illustrative examples only. They do not represent actual clients, actual claims, or guaranteed coverage outcomes. Coverage for any specific situation depends on the policy terms, conditions, exclusions, and the facts of the claim.
After coverage starts
Once coverage is in place, BLIS can help with certificates and policy changes. A certificate only summarizes policy information; the policy and insurer-issued endorsements determine the actual coverage.
FAQ
A farm owner's policy is built for property that blends a home with a working farm. It typically holds dwellings, farm structures, equipment, and farm liability under one form. A commercial property policy is written for a business. Left on its own, it may miss a detached farm structure, a growing crop, or the mix of personal and commercial property a real farm carries. No endorsement, no coverage. Which form fits comes down to the scale of the property, the structures that need answering, and how the land actually gets used.
Crop insurance is separate from standard commercial coverage and may involve federally subsidized USDA programs or private hail and frost options. BLIS does not place federal crop insurance directly. We can help coordinate with qualified crop specialists while reviewing the property, equipment, liability, auto, and workers' compensation needs of the operation. Program availability, covered crops, and deadlines vary by location and crop type.
Agricultural WC runs on state rules that can part sharply from the commercial WC framework. In California, agricultural employers must carry workers comp for farm labor employees. But the classifications and rates track agricultural work categories, not standard commercial class codes. Seasonal work swings the payroll through the year. Field labor, equipment operation, and processing-and-packing each sit at a different rate. Use a labor contractor and one question comes first. Are those workers covered under the contractor's policy, or do they sit under the farm's? State law and the structure of the relationship decide it.
Usually, yes. GL can cover premises and product liability, but liquor-related claims may require an endorsement or separate liquor liability policy. A licensed tasting room where visitors drink on-site creates different concerns from wine production alone. Available limits and cost can depend on tasting-room operations, alcohol sales, training, and the insurer.
Not always, but the policy should specifically reflect public activities. Farm GL written only for production may exclude events, tours, pick-your-own programs, farm stays, or retail sales. Some insurers add an agritourism endorsement, while others use a separate policy. The right option depends on the activity, its frequency, and the existing farm policy.
Tell us how your business works and what you want help with. We'll review what you share and let you know what else may be needed.
Coverage availability, pricing, terms, conditions, limits, and eligibility depend on the insurer, state, details of the business, claims history, and policy terms. Nothing on this site guarantees coverage, pricing, approval, or savings.
Illustrative claim scenarios are examples only and do not represent specific claims, predicted outcomes, or coverage guarantees. Whether a specific claim is covered depends on the policy terms, conditions, exclusions, and the facts of the specific situation.
Crop and hail coverage uses specialized insurance programs that differ from standard business policies. Availability and terms depend on crop type, location, acreage, program rules, and other details of the operation.
