Ask the Agent: What You Need to Know About Agricultural Pollution Coverage

Caring for the land is important, especially to farmers. But accidents happen, often outside our control. A windy day can spread chemicals from your crops to your neighbor’s property, causing damage to their crops. Accidental pollutants can require cleanup. How do you protect yourself and your operation to minimize the impact of farming pollution?

The answer is pollution liability insurance. Policies such as Farm Bureau Member’s Choice industry-leading Ag Pollution Liability Coverage can help you ensure that incidents like these and others, addressed by different types of farm pollution liability coverage, will help you handle unforeseen costs and mitigate risk. But what is pollution liability coverage? And what does it cover? Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about this type of insurance and what you should know.

1. What Is Ag Pollution Coverage or Pollution Liability Insurance?

Ag pollution is a type of farm or ranch liability coverage, which means it protects you from bodily injury claims or accidental property damage claims that are caused by you or your operation. This farming pollution coverage protects you and helps you pay for pollution incidents that are covered in the policy.

2. What Kind of Ag Pollution Does It Cover?

Our farm pollution liability coverage on Farm Bureau Member’s Choice is divided into five sections for bodily injury or property damage. Sections I and II are automatically included in every farm or ranch policy. Sections III–V are optional, and you can choose to add them to your policy based on your needs. It’s important to know what kind of coverage you might require and add it in advance. You don’t want to be caught empty-handed in case of a pollution liability incident.

I. Non-Auto Transportation and Storage Coverage

This coverage is for non-auto transportation and on-premises storage accidents. Every farm or ranch policy automatically has non-auto transportation and storage coverage.

II. Chemical Application Coverage

Chemical application coverage is automatically included in your farm or ranch policy. It provides coverage for damage to other people’s crops caused by the drift of chemicals that can occur while you are spraying your crops.

III. Custom Application for Others Coverage

Do you spray crops for others for a fee? If so, you should consider adding this type of coverage to your policy. Custom application for others’ coverage applies to the crops you are spraying, as well as any associated drift.

IV. Animal Waste Coverage

Animal waste coverage is another option to add to your policy. This coverage applies when you are utilizing animal waste in your own operation. However, please note: it does not cover animal waste applications that you may provide to others for a fee.

V. Pollution Cleanup Coverage

This optional coverage allows for a separate amount of coverage for cleanup. That means the limits you selected for the other four sections are available to pay for other damages in case of a pollution liability incident. 

3. How Much Coverage Can I Get? What’s the Deductible?

Each section of coverage has its own separate limit. There are several limits available, as well as several deductibles for you to choose from. We even have the option to choose a zero-dollar deductible. Your Farm Bureau agent can help you select the best option for your budget and your operation.

4. Do I Need to Add Pollution Cleanup Separately?

Section V is for pollution cleanup. However, all sections include cleanup. We added this option to provide a separate dedicated amount just for cleanup of a covered pollution incident. This separate coverage allows the limits on your other sections to be used solely for any bodily injury or property damage resulting from a pollution incident covered by the endorsement. In essence, the pollution cleanup coverage extends the funds available to you for injury, damage and cleanup.

5. Can Pollution Liability Insurance Pay for Help to Prevent More Damage?

Yes! We’ve added additional coverage that includes up to $25,000 in a 12-month period to take emergency measures that can include a pollution incident and prevent further damage. This is an automatic coverage in our endorsement.

Get Your Questions Answered

Agricultural pollution coverage can seem confusing and overwhelming. Our agents are here to help walk you through coverage for your farm and help assess your risk. If you have any questions or would like to add additional sections to your coverage, reach out to your Farm Bureau agent.