Precision Solutions Offer Agency More Than a Marketing Tool

  • June 25, 2021

FMH Strategic Account Manager Chock Hefner and Precision Technology Specialist Alex Van Loenen have seen how FMH Precision Crop Insurance Solutions™ can benefit agents and policyholders in the long term

This May, they visited FMH agent Eric Wiles at Corner Post Crop Insurance in Independence, Kansas, to check in on how offering the service has worked for him. 

Now in his third year of using Precision Solutions, Wiles is pleased with it. He said, “It seems like it just keeps getting easier and easier every year. Part of that is being more familiar with how the process works, down to the improvements in systems and technology.”

Since the agency was founded in 2012, Corner Post Crop Insurance has grown to service policyholders in parts of Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Wiles continues to see a steady increase of new business from offering Precision Solutions. He estimates that 70 percent of their new business is from producers wanting to jump in and utilize it for crop insurance reporting.

Van Loenen also sees the opportunity and growth it has provided for the agency. 

Alex Van Loenen_crop

Shortly after the agency was founded, agents used hand-written map-based acreage reports – a time-consuming process. Wiles became interested in Precision Solutions to find a simpler process for crop insurance reporting. - Alex Van Loenen, Precision Technology Specialist

Wiles said, “The technology from when we first tried Precision Solutions [in 2015] to today has really improved not only between FMH and the dealership – whether that be MyJohnDeere or Climate FieldView™ – but with the producers as well. Producers started to utilize it way more. So, we decided from an agency standpoint that we needed to be learning as much as we can about it and jumping back in and doing it.”

Wiles approached Van Loenen at an FMH Spring Update Meeting to talk about using Precision Solutions. Then, Corner Post started using the service with a few producers. When piloting the new technology, Wiles wanted to make sure that he had a good working relationship with the producers he chose. He said, “The pilot went extremely well. Three years later, we’re anticipating approximately 50,000 acres pushing through precision data.”

The agency insures and uses precision reporting primarily for corn, soybeans, and wheat. Wiles said, “We have brought milo acres in as well. One thing we may be working with this year is cotton acres on the acreage reporting side. It really shouldn’t be any different than bringing corn and soybean acres in.”

Hefner noted how there isn’t a good way to report production with cotton yet in the industry. He explained how a lot of that comes down to measuring quality and how cotton is tracked by the bale. Wiles still plans to use Precision Solutions for reporting cotton acreage though, noting “it still makes a difference for customers.”