When it comes to personal property, farmers and rural landowners have a lot at stake.
You have thousands of dollars — maybe even millions — invested in equipment, vehicles and your farm buildings. But there’s also less visible personal property, like computer software, your financial records, your personal belongings and even your identity.
These things can easily become susceptible to theft, or natural disaster. In February, Farm and Dairy listened to two presentations about what farmers can do to better protect their personal assets, and thought we’d share some of the advice we heard from Coshocton County Sheriff Tim Rogers, and Ben Peetz, agribusiness risk control consultant with FCCI Insurance Group.
1Plan for the unexpected
“You are going to have something go wrong. Are you going to be ready for it,” said Peetz.
While there are countless ways that things can go wrong, you can usually predict some of the most likely issues. Review your operation and know where you have the greatest risk, whether it be fire, theft, injury or equipment malfunction.
2Map your property
You know your way around your place pretty well, but fire or rescue personnel might not. Keep a good inventory of where your equipment is located, know where your pesticides and chemicals are stored, and be sure things are labeled in a way that your employees can understand. Share the map of your property with local emergency personnel, and invite them to your farm so they know where the biggest risks are located.
Also, be sure your farm’s address number is posted and visible from the road. This can make a big difference when emergency personnel are trying to find your farm.
3Use locks and gates
Securing doors and entrances with locks and gates is one of the easiest and least costly things you can do. While locks and gates can be overcome, it’s one more deterrent that can make the difference.
“They’re (thieves) going to have to make the effort, and a lot of our thieves … don’t have the ambition to make the effort,” said Sheriff Rogers.
4Lock your locks, and keep the keys
A lock is only good if it works, and when it’s in use. Keys left in the farm truck, or even the tractor, is asking for trouble. You may need to periodically change your locks and keys, if you’ve terminated an employee, etc.
5Have a plan, and a second plan
When something goes wrong, does each employee or family member know what to do? Are certain employees expected to help, or are they expected to stay away, and tell someone else? If a piece of equipment malfunctions, or you lose a particular facility, what is plan B?
Sources: Coshocton County Sheriff Tim Rogers, who spoke during a farmers’ breakfast Feb. 14; and Ben Peetz, agribusiness risk control consultant, who spoke during the Ohio AgriBusiness Association conference Feb. 1 in Columbus.
Next week: Farm and Dairy will provide additional steps you can take to make sure your farm property is safe and secure.
(Farm and Dairy is featuring a series of “101” columns throughout the year to help young and beginning farmers master farm living. From finances to management to machinery repair and animal care, farmers do it all.)
More Farming 101 columns:
- 3 measures to deal with severe farm debt
- How to buy time to catch up on farm debt
- 6 tips to manage income on the farm
- 5 tips to recognize and deal with farm stress
- How to prepare a livestock birthing kit
- 5 tips for marketing your farm
- How to develop farm mission, vision statements
- 5 tips for setting farm goals
- 2 types of livestock insurance policies
- 6 things you need to know about WFRP plans
- 3 basics of crop insurance
- How does liability insurance work on the farm?
- Why do I need farm insurance?
- How to understand and use Ohio’s CAUV
- How to utilize the Pa. Clean and Green Act
- 9 tips for filing farm taxes
- 8 reasons record keeping for taxes is essential
- 5 tips for post-harvest storage
- 7 tips for family meetings on the farm
- 4 tips for balancing your farm and family
- 4 tips for communicating on the family farm
- 4 tips for firing an employee
- 6 tips for keeping good farm help
- 4 tips for recruiting farm labor
- 5 general farm labor laws
- 4 tips for employing minors
- 4 tips for PTO safety
- 5 things young farmers should know about finances
- The farm balance sheet
- 5 items for your farm’s cash flow statement
- Personal and business records: Keep them separate
- What to include in your farm business plan
- How to approach a lender: Tips for getting a farm loan
- How to use microloans to get your farm started
- Saving for the future: 6 tips for young farmers
- How to create a farm safety kit
- 5 tips for child safety on the farm
- 4 tips for transporting livestock
- 5 ways to better understand tractor stability
- 6 farm equipment hacks
I appreciate your advice to keep a good inventory of where the equipment is located, know where the pesticides and chemicals are stored, and be sure things are labeled in a way that the employees can understand. I’ve always wanted to run my own farm, and now that I am retired, I want to start a small farm which will be growing in the future. I will make sure to map my property in a proper way and share the map with local emergency personnel and invite them to the farm so they know where the biggest risks are located.
It’s nice to learn that when purchasing a farmland it would be important to be as prepared as Batman. That means having a contingency plan ready for any possible expected and unexpected events, such as fire, storm, theft, injury, or equipment malfunction as you’ve mentioned. That’s interesting since I am planning to move to a farmland as soon as I find any possible rural areas for us to live in. Therefore, I would be sure to be ready for anything life would throw at us. I just thought that with this move the kids will be thought of responsibility and hard work. Hopefully, it works out accordingly to plan. Thanks!