PUBLICATION OF
NATIONAL CROP
INSURANCE
SERVICES®
VOL. 42, NO. 2
MAY 2009
CROP
INSURANCE
TODAY
ADJUSTER
PROFICIENCY
Program Implimented
PENNSYLVANIA
Leverages Federal
Dollars into State
Rural Community Insurance Agency, Inc., D/B/A Rural Community Insurance Services. RCIS is an equal opportunity provider. © 2009 Rural Community Insurance Agency, Inc. All rights reserved.
TODAYPRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
2009
A New Administration, a New Congress…
A New Era for Crop Insurance
Laurie Langstraat, Editor
TODAY IS PROVIDED AS A SERVICE OF
NATIONAL CROP INSURANCE SERVICES®
TO EDUCATE READERS ABOUT THE RISK
MANAGEMENT TOOLS PRODUCERS USE
TO PROTECT THEMSELVES FROM
THE RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH
PRODUCTION AGRICULTURE.
TODAY is published quarterly–February, May,
August, and November by
National Crop Insurance Services
8900 Indian Creek Parkway, Suite 600
Overland Park, Kansas 66210
If you move, or if your address is incorrect,
please send old address label clipped from recent issue
along with your new or corrected address to
Laurie Langstraat, Editor, at the above address.
NCIS Website: http://www.ag-risk.org
NCIS® EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Steve Harms, Chairman
Steve Rutledge, Vice Chairman
Ted Etheredge, Second Vice Chairman
NCIS® MANAGEMENT
Robert W. Parkerson, President
Thomas P. Zacharias, Executive Vice President
P. John Owen, General Counsel
James M. Crist, Controller
Laurence M. Crane, Vice President
Dave Hall, Vice President
Frank F. Schnapp, Vice President
Creative Layout and Design
by Graphic Arts of Topeka, Inc., Kansas
Winner of The Golden ARC Award
Printed on recycled paper.
I think it was best said by USDA Chief Economist, Dr.
Joseph Glauber in his opening statement as he testified
before the House Agriculture Committee in early April:
“This time last year, the outlook picture was quite different than today: prices for most commodities were near
record highs and rising; and farm exports and farm
income were projected to be at record levels.” Then he
proceeded to say what a difference 12 months makes.
“We have seen prices for most commodities fall 40-50
percent from their mid-year peaks.”
No doubt we have all experienced the downturn of
Bob Parkerson, NCIS
this economy. And have been reminded of it every day
in the newspapers, television, radio, and even online with
our computer pumping out the latest news from Wall Street.
What has happened to the crop insurance industry in the last 12 months Dr. Glauber referenced in his testimony? The 2008 Farm Bill cut $6.4 billion (over the next 10 years) from
the crop insurance program. The industry basically went along with the understanding that
everyone would need to sacrifice to help put this economy back on its feet. The 2008 Bill
also requires the renegotiation of the SRA to be in effect in reinsurance year 2011, and then
once again every five years. The Bill also directed FCIC to look for specific ways to cut
Administrative & Operating (A&O) reimbursement for the 2011 renegotiation, signaling even
further cuts in the near future.
Then, just as the industry was starting to figure out ways to adjust to the 2008 Farm Bill,
the new Administration and the new Congress interjected future issues for us to deal with.
In late March, the House and Senate Budget Committees approved their respective versions
of the fiscal year 2010 budget resolution. The nonbinding resolution provides guidelines for
federal spending in the upcoming fiscal year. The good news is the House Budget
Committee approved its version of the resolution with a 24-15 vote and did not mention any
further cuts relating to crop insurance. Now the not so good news… the Senate Budget
Committee approved their budget resolution with a vote of 13-10, and during the debate,
they adopted an amendment by Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND) that will reduce crop insurance by $350 million and increase funding for child nutrition programs by $175 million.
To paraphrase a famous Washington D.C. quote, “a million here a billion there and pretty soon you have real money.” These real money cuts could jeopardize almost 30 years of
hard work and money spent by both the private and public sectors in development of a true
risk management program that works and is envied by the rest of the free world.
Yes, we are in economic hard times, the likes of which we haven’t seen for almost 80
years. And yes, we must all tighten our belts to get this economy on its feet. But what seems
Continued on page 26
CROP INSURANCE TODAY
1
CROP
INSURANCE
VOL. 42, NO. 2
MAY 2009
TODAY
Table of Contents
12
15
1
A New Era for Crop Insurance
4
Amending the SRA
to Address Adjuster Proficiency
6
Crop Adjuster’s Guide to New CAPP Web
11
NCIS Services Spotlight
12
Japan Studies U.S. Crop Insurance Program
15
New GRP Oyster Program Available
18
Pennsylvania Leverages Federal Dollars into State
21
NCIS Board and PDC Meet Together
22
Chairmen Learn Valuable Information
24
Ruth Gerdes Awarded the Crop Insurance Industry
Outstanding Service Award
25
In Memory of Gordon Smith
26
Judy Anderson Given Crop Insurance Industry
Leadership Award
27
Industry Donates Money to Hidden Harvest Charity
ON THE COVER
PUBLICATION OF
NATIONAL CROP
INSURANCE
SERVICES®
VOL. 42, NO. 2
MAY 2009
CROP
INSURANCE
TODAY
Planting for the future.
ADJUSTER
PROFICIENCY
Program Implimented
18
PENNSYLVANIA
Leverages Federal
Dollars into State
Visit
www.cropinsuranceinamerica.com
THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE OF AGRICULTURAL RISK MANAGEMENTSM
Unlike many corporate conglomerates, we do not divert
capital or expertise by entering other lines of business such as
banking or the mortgage business. We keep it real simple...we
focus on crop insurance. We help producers analyze risk, treat
them fairly, and pay claims in a timely manner. Over the past
80 years, we have worked rigorously to set the mark for service
and customer satisfaction. We single-mindedly focus on one
thing–helping farmers and their families keep farming. To
learn more about us visit www.ProAg.com.
Producers Ag Insurance GroupTM D/B/A ProAgsm, is comprised of Producers Agriculture Insurance Company, Producers Lloyds Insurance Company—the insurance policy issuing companies—and Pro Ag Management, Inc., the managing and servicing
affiliate. The insurance products offered may not be a complete list of all products offered and may not be offered in all states. ProAg is an equal opportunity provider. © 2009 ProAg. All Rights Reserved.
TODAYcrop insurance
AMENDING THE SRA
to Address Adjuster Proficiency
By Dr. Laurence M. Crane, NCIS
Recently all companies delivering the
Federal crop insurance program agreed to
an optional amendment (Amendment No.
2) to the Standard Reinsurance Agreement
(SRA) addressing adjuster licensing. This
amendment was the result of a combined
effort by the Risk Management Agency
(RMA), the National Association of
Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), and
National Crop Insurance Services (NCIS)
who have been focusing together on these
issues for several years.
Amendment No. 2 specifically allows
RMA to recognize a third-party testing program for loss adjuster proficiency in states
that have no licensing requirements or in
states in which requirements are not crop
insurance specific. It also addresses the
specific problem in states that require loss
adjuster license testing in property and
casualty insurance areas other than crop
insurance. Crop insurance is sufficiently
unique to warrant crop insurance specific
proficiency testing. However, RMA recognizes the valuable partnership it has fostered with state regulators in many aspects
of insurance regulation and the fact that
some states are making a good faith effort
to better tailor their loss adjuster licensing
4
MAY 09
requirements for crop insurance.
Consequently, a general Federal pre-emption of all state loss adjuster licensing
requirements was not desirable.
Although Amendment No. 2 was initially developed to address the specific problem for crop loss adjusters in states requiring general property and casualty testing, a
number of other program benefits became
apparent in discussions between RMA, state
regulators, and the industry. These benefits
include:
• Greater consistency of loss adjuster proficiency across all states;
• An increase of loss adjuster proficiency,
especially in those states with no current
licensing requirements;
• Greater awareness among state regulators regarding the uniqueness of crop
loss adjusting;
• Elimination of unnecessary barriers for
persons wishing to become new crop
loss adjusters; and,
• Improved Federal crop insurance program integrity with the addition of effective third party proficiency testing.
Technically, Amendment No. 2 authorizes RMA to replace state licensing requirements with FCIC certification. However,
FCIC certification will still depend heavily
on state loss adjuster licensing requirements. To best understand how this will
work, one should consider the various current states’ loss adjuster licensing requirements in three broad categories: a) those
with crop insurance specific requirements;
b) those with requirements that are not
crop insurance specific; and, c) those with
no requirements. For group (a), those state
requirements would continue to apply to all
loss adjusters operating in the state. For
group (b), those state requirements would
continue to apply until the 2012 reinsurance
year, at which time the completion of an
RMA-approved proficiency testing program
would be considered by RMA to be sufficient for a person to be authorized to perform Federal crop insurance loss adjusting,
unless the state adopts a crop insurance
specific license in the interim. For group
(c,) the completion of an RMA-approved
proficiency testing program would be a
new requirement for all loss adjusters
beginning in the 2010 reinsurance year.
RMA anticipates that, over time, the
Amendment will encourage many states to
adopt crop insurance specific loss adjuster
licenses based on their own testing program or on an RMA-approved proficiency
testing program.
To meet RMA’s third party testing as proposed in the amendment, NCIS has developed the Crop Adjuster Proficiency
Program (CAPP). The following describes
the mechanics of the CAPP.
Crop Adjuster Proficiency
Program
The goal of the Crop Adjuster
Proficiency Program (CAPP) is to ensure
that all loss adjusters of Federally insured
crops have demonstrated an approved level
of proficiency. The objective is to fulfill the
education and testing requirements necessary for individual crop adjusters to qualify
for a state crop adjuster license, and to satisfy the continuing education requirements
for adjusters of crops insurable under the
Federal crop insurance program administered by RMA.
The two components of this proficiency
certification are: 1) the process of obtaining,
maintaining, and verifying adjuster proficiency, and 2) determining and maintaining
the content or knowledge base required for
an individual to receive and maintain a proficiency designation.
Process
To receive a proficiency certification, an
individual would be required to accomplish
the following:
Step 1: Satisfy all company level SRA
required training
(See summary of SRA requirements listed
in the accompanying box)
Complete all Approved Insurance
Provider (AIP) training requirements for
adjusters as specified in the SRA, including passing a company administered
Competency Exam. These company
level competency exams are where
regional and/or individual crop specific
(e.g., nursery, coarse grains, livestock,
etc.) issues are covered.
Step 2: Gain access to the NCIS
CAPP testing site
Upon completing the SRA training
requirements with a company, the AIP
will give the adjuster a unique company identification code that will be
required to logon to the NCIS testing
web site. The company will also provide to NCIS the names and social security numbers of the individual adjusters
who have completed the SRA required
training with their company. The
adjuster will use the provided company
code and their social security number to
gain access to the NCIS CAPP testing
site. On their initial visit, adjusters will
establish a user id and password to use
for subsequent visits to the NCIS CAPP
testing site.
Step 3: Complete the three required
CAPP exams
Pass at the 80 percent level, three online
open-book, timed exams developed
and administered by NCIS. These exams
would cover:
Exam 1 - General Insurance Terms and
Concepts (35 questions/75 minutes)
Exam 2 - Basic Policy Provisions (35
questions/75 minutes)
Exam 3 - Loss Adjustment Manual and
general adjuster information (50 questions/120 minutes)
Summary of SRA
Adjuster Training Requirements
New loss adjusters must participate in a structured training program of at least 60
hours (including at least 24 hours of classroom training).
Experienced loss adjusters must annually complete at least 18 hours of structured
training (including at least 6 hours of classroom training).
All loss adjusters must pass a basic competency test every three years.
Step 4: Receive documentation of
CAPP completion
Once an individual has successfully passed
the required exams, NCIS will provide
the individual with documentation verifying the individual’s proficiency status.
(The adjuster will receive an individualized credit card-sized plastic card similar
to those used in the health insurance
industry to provide proof of insurance.)
The individual will use this documentation as proof to state insurance departments that they have satisfied the education and testing requirements established
by the crop insurance industry. NCIS will
also provide each AIP with the status of
each individual who has accessed the
NCIS CAPP testing site using their company specific access code. NCIS will also
verify to any state insurance department
that the individual of interest has completed the exams as required. Upon
request, NCIS will also provide RMA
with the status of each individual who
has accessed the NCIS CAPP testing site.
Only pass/fail results, and not individual
scores, will be provided to AIP’s, insurance departments, and RMA.
Step 5: Complete SRA Continuing
Education requirements to maintain Certification
To maintain the NCIS Crop Adjuster
Proficiency designation, the adjuster
must complete the annual company
training requirements specified in the
SRA. Each AIP will report to NCIS the
adjusters who have satisfied these
requirements with their company. Any
individual who does not meet these
requirements by the end of each calendar year will have their designation can-
celled. Once cancelled, an individual
would need to successfully re-take the
three qualifying exams.
Verification
NCIS will maintain a historical database
of individuals who have qualified for the
Crop Adjuster Proficiency designation and
the status of their annual continuing education requirements. This database can be
accessed only by user id, password, and
company code. Thus a company can only
access the pass/fail records for those individuals who registered to take an exam
using their company code. An individual
will only be able to access their own personal records.
RMA and state insurance departments
will have permission to audit the designation process and content (all exams, content material upon which the exams are
based, any education modules developed
specifically for exam preparation, etc.) of
the CAPP upon request, including the historical database of individuals receiving certification. In fact, NCIS would encourage
state insurance departments to review the
program in sufficient detail to acquire a
high level of comfort.
Implementation Schedule
The CAPP website is fully operational
and is accessible from the NCIS homepage
(www.ag-risk.org). In early May, NCIS will
be conducting another training session for
AIP administrators to become fully familiar
with all CAPP features, enabling them to
help the adjusters in their companies who
take the CAPP exams. A series of articles
with specific detailed instructions about
CAPP will be included in future issues of
Crop Insurance TODAY.
CROP INSURANCE TODAY
5
TODAYcrop insurance
Crop Adjuster’s Guide to
NEW CAPP WEB
By Lisa Cain, NCIS
In April 2008, National Crop Insurance
Services (NCIS) launched the Crop
Adjuster Proficiency Program (CAPP). The
CAPP Accreditation is designed to help
Multiple Peril Crop Insurance (MPCI) loss
adjusters comply with individual State
Insurance Department licensing requirements for crop adjusters. (See “Amending
the SRA to Address Adjuster Proficiency”
on page 4 for more details about the origin
and need for the CAPP program.) To
obtain the CAPP designation, the crop loss
adjuster must successfully complete a
series of three online exams. Those who
do so will receive a CAPP ID card. The
CAPP ID card serves as documentation that
the cardholder has met the necessary
requirements to obtain a NCIS Crop
Adjuster Proficiency designation.
This article is designed to help crop loss
adjusters become familiar with the CAPP
web site. This article will detail how to
obtain access to the CAPP web and the
resources found there, the purpose of the
related learning management system
(LMS), and how adjusters can achieve the
CAPP Accreditation.
CAPP WEB SITE
The CAPP web site is accessible
through the NCIS home page. Go to
www.ag-risk.org and click on the CAPP
link. This link will take you to the welcome
page for the CAPP. As indicated in Image 1,
the CAPP site divides the computer screen
into three sections.
Section 1—Top
The top section contains the NCIS logo,
the site title and the login area.
Section 2—Left
At the left side of the screen is a list of
file folders and web pages to which you
have access. At the bottom of this section
are the NCIS copyright and an email link to
the CAPP Web Manager.
Section 3—Right
CAPP web pages are displayed in the
window at the right side of the screen. This
Image 2. Click on the circle to “Setup an account.
Image 1. The CAPP web pages are divided into three sections.
6
MAY 09
Image 3. Indicate “Adjuster” by clicking on
the circle.
area is dynamic and will change to display
any page selected in Section 2 at the left.
CAPP Web Log In
Each approved insurance provider
(AIP) will transmit to NCIS a list of their
adjusters who have met the standard reinsurance agreement (SRA) training requirements. Only these adjusters will be permitted to set up a Login ID and Password.
Once on the CAPP web site, adjusters
may set up a Login ID and Password by
clicking on the “Login Help” button at the
top of the page (Image 1). After the screen
changes, click on the circle in front of the
option “Set up account” and click the
“Next” button (Image 2). The system will
ask you to indicate if you are an adjuster or
a non-adjuster. Click on the circle in front
of “Adjuster” and click on the “Next” button (Image 3). This will take you to the
“Establish Adjuster Account” screen (Image
4).
To set up an account, enter the requested information displayed in the “Establish
Adjuster Account” screen. All required
information must be entered to establish a
Login ID and Password. Account information will be verified against the data transmitted to NCIS by your AIP. Your account
information is securely transmitted to NCIS
during the account setup process.
Among other things, you will be
required to enter a company access code.
This code is unique for every AIP. If you
do not know the access code for your
company, contact your AIP CAPP administrator. The company access code is only
used during the initial account setup
process. Subsequent visits to the CAPP
web site will require only the Login ID and
Password.
After all required information is
entered, click on the “Add Adjuster” button. Upon submission, the CAPP system
will tell you that an email message was
automatically sent to the email address
provided during the account setup
process. For this reason, the email address
entered during the account setup process
must be a functioning email address and
must be typed correctly into the required
“Email” field. The email message will
include the Login ID, a Temporary
Image 4. Information is required of the adjuster to establish an account.
Image 5. The adjuster will need to confirm the account information.
Password, and a link to the CAPP web.
Click on the link in the email and you will
be asked to confirm your adjuster account
by entering the Login ID, Temporary
Password and a new Password (Image 5).
Change your password to something that is
easier for you to remember. Type your new
password a second time in the “Confirm
New Password” field. Click on the “Next”
button and the account registration process
is complete.
CAPP Web Options
Once logged into the system, you will
be taken to the secured default welcome
page, and the options displayed in Section
2 at the left side of the screen will expand
to include additional content (Image 6).
Welcome
The welcome page explains the CAPP
Accreditation as well as the other options
available in Section 2 of the screen.
CROP INSURANCE TODAY
7
Source Material Option
The source material used to create the
CAPP exam questions can be found under
the “Source Material” option. This area
includes portable document format (.pdf)
copies of the Crop Adjuster Study Guide,
the Basic Provisions of Insurance and the
Loss Adjustment Manual (LAM). Use these
study materials to prepare yourself for the
series of CAPP exams. The Crop Adjuster
Study Guide includes information such as
the fundamental principles of insurance,
and general insurance term definitions and
concepts. This information is the source for
CAPP Exam 1. The Basic Provisions of
Insurance is the source for CAPP Exam 2,
and the LAM is the source for CAPP Exam
3. Adobe Reader is required to view these
source documents. Adobe Reader may
be downloaded free of charge at
www.adobe.com.
Image 6. Logging in expands the options available to the adjuster.
FAQ Option
A list of frequently asked questions is
located under the “FAQ” option. If you
have questions, please consult this list
before contacting your Company CAPP
administrator. See the “Contacts” option
below for additional information.
Exam Option
Among the options is the “Exam”
option. Click on “Exam” and you will be
taken to the NCIS Learning Management
System (LMS) main page (Image 7). The
LMS is where you go to take the CAPP
exams. See “CAPP Exams” below for further details about the LMS and the CAPP
exams.
Account Info
The information entered during the
account setup process may be viewed by
clicking on the “Account Info” option. This
option also allows you to change the primary address, email address, phone number, and password.
Contacts
The AIP CAPP administrator contact
information is located under the “Contacts”
option. If you have any questions regarding the CAPP, you should first review the
“FAQ” option. If questions still remain, you
should contact the AIP CAPP administrator.
If there are questions that the CAPP administrator can not answer, then you or the
8
MAY 09
Image 7. LMS Main Page.
AIP administrator may contact the NCIS
CAP accreditation team by clicking on the
link located at the bottom of Section 2.
ID Card Status
This option is only available to you after
you have passed all three exams. Crop
insurance adjusters who successfully complete all three CAPP exams will receive a
CAPP ID card verifying their proficiency
status. To check the status of your ID card,
click on the “ID Card Status” option. If your
CAPP card is lost or destroyed, you may
request a new one by using the “ID Card
Status” option.
CAPP Exams
The LMS is used to administer the
exams. It contains the three CAPP exams
and a practice exam. Use the practice
exam to become comfortable with the
online exam technology. The questions
for this exam are not related to crop insurance, but they are multiple choice and
true and false questions that are posed
one at a time, just like the CAPP exams.
Take the practice exam as many times as
you like until you feel comfortable with
the technology and the exam process. The
result of your practice exam is not
revealed to anyone but you.
The three CAPP exams are timed
open-book exams. Because they are
timed, you must be proficient in the subject matter to successfully complete the
exams in the time allotted. Also, because
they are timed, it’s important to take the
practice exam so you know what to
expect from the technology before you
begin the CAPP exams.
CAPP exams are comprised of randomly selected questions. These questions are pulled from a large pool of
questions that were written based on the
exam source material. Therefore, the
chance that any two CAPP exams will be
identical is extremely unlikely.
The exams are located on the LMS in
the “Exam Center” (Image 8). To begin an
exam, click on the “Start Exam” link for
the desired exam. The instructions and
exam details appear before the exam
begins (Image 9). CAPP Exams 1 and 2
are each comprised of 35 questions that
must be answered within 75 minutes. To
complete CAPP Exam 3 which covers the
Loss Adjustment Manual (LAM), you must
answer 50 questions within 120 minutes.
You must receive a grade of 80 percent or
better to pass a CAPP exam.
Click on the “Start the Exam” button
to launch the exam and start the timer.
During the exam, questions are posed
one per page. To help protect the integrity of the exam, the print capability on
your computer will be blocked when the
exam questions are displayed. Select
your answer by clicking on the circle
preceding your choice. Click on the
“Next” button to advance to the following question. Continue this process until
all questions are answered. When you
reach the end of the exam, click on the
“Submit Exam” button (Image 10). The
system will verify that you want to sub-
mit the exam. Click the “OK” button, and
the exam is complete.
Upon submission, the CAPP exam is
graded and the result is recorded. The
LMS keeps track of exam results. Each
adjuster’s CAPP exam results are reported to their company on a pass/fail
basis. Exam grade percentages are displayed in the “Exam Center.” These
percentages may only be viewed by the
individual adjuster.
If the attempt to pass a CAPP exam is
not successful, the adjuster may return
after seven days to retake the failed exam.
This seven-day lock-out period only
applies to the exam that was unsuccessfully attempted. Other CAPP exams are
not affected.
CAPP ID Card
Once you have successfully completed
all three CAPP exams, you will receive a
NCIS issued CAPP ID card. The ID card
Obtain Your
CAPP
Accreditation
If you are a MPCI crop loss adjuster
who has not met the SRA training
requirements for loss adjusters,
contact your company to see what you
can do to meet those requirements. If
you have already met the SRA requirements, all you need to do to begin
earning your CAPP Accreditation is to
obtain the company access code from
your Company CAPP administrator.
Talk to your supervisor if you are
uncertain how to contact your company
CAPP administrator.
Image 8. LMS Exam Center.
Image 9. The instruction and exam details appear before the exam begins.
CROP INSURANCE TODAY
9
will be mailed to you at the address
selected during the account setup
process. (Please allow 10 to 12 days for
delivery.)
The CAPP ID card is 3.25 x 2 inches in
size and is made of thick plastic, much
like a driver’s license or a credit card. The
front of the CAPP ID card is equipped
with a unique hologram coating. This
safety feature is designed to deter any
attempt to create a counterfeit card, thereby protecting the integrity of the CAPP
Accreditation. Printed on the front of the
CAPP ID card is your name and unique
ID number, the date the card was issued,
and the date the card will expire. The
back of the card states that the holder of
the CAPP ID card has successfully
achieved the CAPP Accreditation, and this
designation is current through the expiration date on the front of the card. NCIS
contact information is also included.
Adjusters who do not stay
current with the SRA training
requirements will forfeit their
CAPP Accreditation status.
Yearly CAPP Renewal
Process
Adjusters who successfully complete
the CAPP Accreditation will be automatically renewed every year if he/she fulfills the yearly SRA training requirements
for loss adjusters. Each AIP will notify
NCIS of all adjusters who have met the
SRA requirements with their company
and this information will trigger the
CAPP ID card renewal process. In
January, prior to the expiration of the
current CAPP ID card, NCIS will issue a
new CAPP ID card to all adjusters who
have fulfilled the SRA training requirements for adjusters. This new ID card is
applicable until January 31 of the following year.
If NCIS does not receive notice that
the SRA requirements have been satisfied for an adjuster prior to December 1
of the current year, NCIS will issue an
Adjuster Non-Renewal Warning Report
to the AIP. This report will list the
adjusters for that AIP who have not met
the SRA training requirements and therefore will not have their CAPP
Accreditation renewed. If, by January 2
of the following year, such notice is still
not received by NCIS, the Adjuster Nonrenewal Report will be issued to the AIP
Image 10. Exam questions are posed one page, and the completed exam must be submitted.
10
MAY 09
notifying them of the adjusters from their
company who will not be renewed. In
addition, NCIS will notify the adjuster
that his/her CAPP ID card will be
revoked.
Adjusters who do not stay current
with the SRA training requirements will
forfeit their CAPP Accreditation status.
Adjusters who wish to receive the CAPP
Accreditation once it has been revoked
must retake all three CAPP exams after
he/she once again satisfies the SRA
requirements.
Obtain Your CAPP
Accreditation
If you are a MPCI crop loss adjuster
who has not met the SRA training
requirements for loss adjusters, contact
your company to see what you can do to
meet those requirements. If you have
already met the SRA requirements, all
you need to do to begin earning your
CAPP Accreditation is to obtain the company access code from your Company
CAPP administrator. Talk to your supervisor if you are uncertain how to contact
your company CAPP administrator.
Once you have your company access
code, you only have five steps to
achieve your CAPP designation:
TODAY
1) Visit the NCIS web site at www.agrisk.org and click on the link to the
CAPP web;
2) Establish your adjuster account and
log in to the web using the Login ID
and Password sent to the email
address that you provided during the
account setup process;
3) Access and utilize the CAPP exam
study material to prepare yourself for
the CAPP exams;
4) Take the practice exam to familiarize
yourself with the technology used
during the exam process; and,
5) Complete the three CAPP exams.
Within days of successfully concluding
these five steps, your CAPP ID card will
arrive in the mail, and your CAPP
Accreditation process will be complete.
NCIS
Spotlight
Lynnette Dillon joined the NCIS staff in
January 2009. She is an education and
training specialist whose primary responsibility is to work with the AIP
Administrators of the CAPP website to help
them help their adjusters navigate the system and establish their accounts. She is
also responsible for developing training
units and is the NCIS liaison to the Missouri
Regional/State Crop Insurance Committee.
Lynnette brings extensive professional
and crop insurance experience to her job
with NCIS. Before coming to NCIS,
Lynnette worked for Farm Bureau of
Kansas and Iowa, before and after Farm
Bureau was bought by Western
Agricultural Insurance Company/Crop 1.
Throughout most of her career, she lived
and worked out of Manhattan, Kan., but
most recently she worked out of her home
in rural Missouri. With Farm Bureau,
Lynnette trained agents throughout the
Midwest, and, during her last year with
them, also started administrating and
organizing adjuster training. Lynnette conducted producer meetings, and when she
was home, published the monthly crop
newsletter for agents and adjusters, worked
on training units (updating and creating
new ones) and did agent training through
web conferencing. She also made sure all
agents were certified as per the RMA
requirements.
Lynnette Dillion, Education and Training Specialist
Lynnette grew up in Manhattan, Kan.,
and lived there all her life up until three
years ago. When her daughter went to
Kansas University, she decided to work
from home and move closer to her family
and friends in Perryville, MO. She now
considers that her home. Lynnette has one
daughter, Devin, who is a junior at KU.
Both Lynnette and her daughter have supported KU basketball for years, although
they learned not to be too vocal about that
when they lived in Manhattan! They love to
travel and try to plan a trip together each
year. Lynnette also enjoys reading, watching movies, spending time with her family,
visiting wineries, and loves to cook.
The industry is very fortunate to have
someone with Lynnette’s talent, knowledge
of crop insurance, work ethic and pleasant
personality join the NCIS team.
CROP INSURANCE TODAY
11
TODAYcrop insurance
JAPAN STUDIES
U.S. Crop Insurance Program
By Laurie Langstraat, NCIS
There are some who would say that the
U.S. crop insurance program is the envy of
the world. And why not? In the 28 years
that this public-private partnership has
been in place, the program has grown significantly. In 2008, $90 billion of the
American food supply was protected by
crop insurance. Over 80 percent of the
insurable farmland was covered totaling
272 million acres. The crop insurance program IS a success story, and that success
and the unique relationship between the
U.S. government and private industry has
not gone unnoticed by many countries
around the world.
In today’s economy, a successful government program may come as a surprise
to some. But it doesn’t to those of us who
work in crop insurance. The private insurance companies who sell crop insurance to
farmers have worked very closely and very
well with the USDA’s Risk Management
Agency and Congress to meet and exceed
Congressional mandates for this program.
Both entities – the government and private
enterprise – share in the risks and rewards.
The system is one of the most cost-effective
government programs available in the U.S.
and comes with one of the lowest administrative and operating costs of all insurance
programs, as documented by the 2008
Grant Thornton Report. There is obviously adequate government oversight of this
program, as well. According to then
Deputy Administrator of the Risk
Management Agency, James Callan, there is
“less than two-tenths of one percent of all
12
MAY 09
Visitors from Japan who came to the NCIS office included: (Left to right) Mr. Osamu Minakawa,
Economic Section Chief, Consulate General of Japan in Chicago; Mr. Kunihisa Yoshii, Policy
Research Institute, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), Japan; Ms. Hiromi
Morikawa, translator; and, Mr. Kazuyuki Ito, National Agricultural Insurance Association, Japan.
those involved in crop insurance exhibit
fraudulent behavior,” (Program Integrity
Conference, May 2008).
Because of this success, there are many
countries from around the world that want
to try and duplicate its success. Frequently
we see evidence of this at NCIS. Several
times a year, government officials, university professors, and private insurance company representatives from countries
around the globe ask to visit the NCIS
office with the intention of learning more
about the inner-workings of the program.
Sometimes delegations of ten or more
might visit, or it may be only one or
two representatives from a country.
Discussions among the group are as varied
as the group size. Some come because
they currently don’t have a viable crop
insurance program for their farmers and
desperately want to learn more in order to
create something that will fill the need.
Others have agricultural insurance products available for their producers but want
to learn how they might improve the coverage or service provided.
In mid-February, representatives from
Japan’s Consulate in Chicago, the Ministry
of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
(MAFF), and the National Agricultural
Insurance Association, to visit the NCIS
office. Japan has a crop insurance program
in place, but it has no private sector
involvement and is run solely through the
Japanese government. The government
does contribute a portion of farmer premiums and administrative costs and reinsures
the program.
Much of the discussion during this
meeting pertained to the delivery system
and the interaction between the Risk
Management Agency and the private insurance companies. The group also had
questions about training agents and
adjusters and were curious about the
impact on crop insurance from the new
SURE and ACRE programs.
The Japanese crop insurance program is
similar to the U.S. program in many ways.
The overall goal is to protect farmers from
losses caused by natural disasters, enable
them to continue farming, and ensure a
stable food supply for the country. The
Agricultural Insurance System of Japan is
composed of five programs: 1) Rice, Wheat
and Barley Insurance; 2) Livestock
Insurance; 3) Fruit and Fruit-tree Insurance;
4) Field Crop Insurance; and,
5) Greenhouse Insurance. Almost all kinds
of crops and livestock may be covered,
except vegetables and flowers that are
grown outdoors and fowl.
Participation in the rice, wheat, and barley insurance is mandatory; but farmers
may choose whether or not to participate
in the other programs. The crop insurance
programs basically provide multiple-peril
type coverage against all possible natural
risks that could cause a decrease in yields.
The livestock insurance program covers
animal losses by death, as well as expenses for treating diseases and injuries. Under
the System, revenue insurance is not
offered. Typical perils that afflict damage
to crops and livestock in Japan are cold
weather and heavy rainstorms, including
typhoons.
The System is organized and managed
by a three-level structure: The Agricultural
Mutual Relief at the municipal level; the
Prefectural Federation of Agricultural
Mutual Relief at the prefectural level; and,
the Agricultural Reinsurance Special
Account, which is held by the Ministry of
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF),
at the national level.
Other countries that have recently sent
representatives to study the program
include: Korea, Spain, Germany, Mexico,
and South Africa.
The Agricultural Insurance
System of Japan
2.45 million farms participate in all of the available programs
• Rice, Wheat and Barley Insurance – 1.9 million farms
• Livestock Insurance – 98,000 farms
• Fruit and Fruit-tree Insurance – 88,000 farms
• Field Crop Insurance – 84,000 farms
• Greenhouse Insurance – 243,000 farms
Participation on area basis:
• Rice - 91%
• Wheat - 94%
• Dairy Cattle - 89%
• Beef Cattle - 71%
• Hogs - 19%
• Fruits - 25%
• Field Crops - 60%
• Greenhouse - 48%
Premium Volume Total - 124.6 billion yen (1 Japanese Yen(s) = 0.01001 US Dollar(s))
• Farmers - 62.7 billion yen
• Subsidies - 61.9 billion yen
Value Insured Total - 2,746 billion yen
• Crop Insurance - 1,541 billion yen
• Livestock Insurance - 761 billion yen
• Greenhouse Insurance - 444 billion yen
Acres Insured Total: 2.05 million hectares (approximately 5 million acres)
Livestock Head Insured: 6.76 million
CROP INSURANCE TODAY
13
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TODAYcrop insurance
NEW GRP
Oyster Program Available
By Laurie Langstraat, NCIS
In late November 2008, the Federal
Crop Insurance Corporation Board of
Directors approved the Group Risk Plan
(GRP) for oysters in select counties in
Louisiana.
The oyster insurance program is a
group risk insurance plan similar to other
group risk plans available to producers
of other agricultural commodities. Like
those, the oyster insurance program uses
an index to represent the harvest of oysters for each oyster farmer. In this case,
the index is based on the total number of
pounds of oysters harvested from a privately-owned or leased water basin.
Oyster producers can purchase an insurance guarantee that the oyster harvest
from a basin will be at least 90 percent of
the expected oyster harvest. Growers
can select a guarantee as low as 65 percent of the basin average.
“I am going to be the first oyster
farmer to buy this crop insurance policy,” said Carolyn Falgout, a Louisianaborn farmer whose family has been in
the oyster business for over 100 years. “I
was the one who went to the Louisiana
Oyster Association and asked for some
kind of crop insurance program. And
I’m really happy that we now have
something available.”
The program was developed by Crop
Insurance Systems, Inc., in conjunction
with the Louisiana Farm Bureau, whose
help the Oyster Association requested
Carolyn Falgout and Rob Cerda talk
about the new GRP Oyster plan
of insurance for Louisiana oyster farmers.
CROP INSURANCE TODAY
15
right before Hurricane Katrina hit the
area in 2005.
“Things were kind of put on hold right
after the hurricane,” said Rob Cerda, president of Crop Insurance Systems. “But we
started working on it as soon as we could
talk to the oyster farmers to get their input.”
There are approximately 1,500 oyster
farmers in Louisiana who lease private
basins from the state, and only oysters
harvested from these private basins are
insurable.
Falgout is from Amite, La., and the
basins she leases are dredged, or harvested, by an old family friend. “Captain Pete
and I and our families have known each
other for many, many years,” said Falgout.
“I wouldn’t trust anyone else with this part
of my business. The oyster boat is run out
of Port Sulphur, La.
Hurricane Katrina essentially turned the
Gulf of Mexico into a giant blender, disrupting or destroying thousands of acres
of oyster beds and devastating the local
industry. “For the first three years after
Katrina, we didn’t harvest many oysters,”
said Falgout. “But we are starting to see
the oyster beds recover.”
Even though Falgout is optimistic about
Captain Pete talks about how seeding for oysters is an important part of being able to
continually harvest oysters two-to-three years after seeding. The seeding is done with millions
of tiny “baby” oysters and by throwing small limestone rocks into the brackish waters for the
oysters to adhere to.
her oyster business, she is very excited about
having the GRP oyster program available to
her. “It only takes one hurricane to destroy
our crop,” she said. “I’m really glad that I can
buy crop insurance to protect my livelihood
just like most every other farmer in this
country can.”
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MAY 09
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1 . 8 8 8 . N A U . M P C I
N A U C O U N T R Y I N S U R A N C E C O M PA N Y I S A N E Q U A L O P P O R T U N I T Y P R O V I D E R
© 2 0 0 9 N A U C O U N T R Y I N S U R A N C E C O M PA N Y. A L L R I G H T S R E S E R V E D .
TODAYcrop insurance
PENNSYLVANIA
Leverages
Federal
Dollars
into State
By Jan Eliassen, Ad Hoc Associates
1999 was a very, very dry year in Pennsylvania. Out of that
drought came what the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture
still refers to as, “a teachable moment.”
In the short term, Pennsylvania responded to the disaster by
funding disaster payments costing almost $60 million. But it was
the long-term response that has paid big dividends by leveraging
millions of federal dollars into the state.
Performance of Crop Insurance in Pennsylvania 1998-2008
Estimated from RMA/USDA Web
Primary
Causes of
Loss
Crop
Year
98
99
00
Drought
01
Severe Drought
02
Drought
03
04
05
06
07
Revenue Losses
08 INC.
Total
2000-2008
Severe Drought
18
MAY 09
Total
Crop
Policies
Protection
In Force
($)
Acres
Insured
Total
Premium
($)
Farmer Paid
Premium Aft
Fed. & PA Sub
Losses Paid
to Producers
($)
Farmer
Bebefit per
$1 of Premium
6,064
7,005
11,670
11,919
13,983
15,124
16,169
15,279
14,153
13,435
13,149
124,881
79,456,733
110,996,708
162,261,859
186,972,087
221,953,102
258,873,432
283,963,761
249,867,712
248,349,615
333,219,673
409,090,672
2,354,551,913
519,681
609,052
941,852
978,759
1,119,467
1,145,544
1,173,174
1,16,792
1,081,212
1,079,909
1,069,388,
9,706,097
5,575,329
6,863,407
11,692,010
13,970,784
18,997,980
32,122,810
32,627,031
29,829,410
32,537,911
44,630,760
57,473,288
273,881,984
2,300.937
2,323,363
3,946,209
3,612,497
5,389,705
7,136,854
8,882,750
6,825,756
12,043,539
14,664,718
20,680,898
83,182,926
5,358,217
22,470,052
6,474,594
18,174,584
63,701,564
27,766,274
15,028,096
15,051,213
18,044,391
26.209,872
31,488,841
221,939,429
2.33
9.67
1.64
5.03
11.82
3.89
1.69
2.21
1.50
1.79
1.52
2.67
The state legislature provided about $2
million of state premium subsidy to
encourage farmers to buy higher, better
performing, levels of crop insurance coverage. Through good years and lean years
that program has continued to be funded
(at various levels).
How successful has the program been?
Some highlights from the chart below illustrate just how much this program has
meant to Pennsylvania.
In 1999 producers had 7,000 insurance
policies with $100 million protection in
Pennsylvania. In 2008 producers had
13,000 policies with over $400 million of
protection.
In the years between 2000 and 2008
over $221 million in losses were paid to
Pennsylvania producers on 9.7 million
acres of insured crops. It’s also estimated
that about $450 million of economic benefits occurred in Pennsylvania (before
?
The question is why have
other states, especially
those with lower levels
of crop insurance
protection not enacted
similar programs?
applying economic multipliers), due in
large part to the $17.5 million state investment in the crop insurance program.
Just how much was leveraged into
Pennsylvania? Well, after combining the
Federal subsidy with the state subsidy you
can see that the average 2000-2008 farmer
benefit per $1 of premium paid was $2.67.
According to Michael Evanish, Manager
MSC of Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, “Based
on Pennsylvania Farm Bureau Membership
Services Corporation data, crop insurance,
over the past five years, has been the number one reason why ag in Pennsylvania is
as healthy as it is today.”
Only one other state, Delaware, has
emulated the Pennsylvania crop insurance
premium subsidy approach, with similar
results.
Maryland passed legislation to enact a
similar program but has yet to fund it.
The question is why have other states,
especially those with lower levels of crop
insurance protection not enacted similar
programs? Plainly, this is an investment
that generates big returns for the state and
helps the state’s producers get their fair
share of the Federal safety net, the way the
Federal legislation intended them to do.
Correction
The graph on page 6 of the February 2009 issue of this publication was printed incorrectly. The correct graph is shown below. The graph
that appears in the online PDF of this publication, found on the NCIS website at www.ag-risk.org, is correct. We apologize for this error.
Comparison of A&O Reimbursement to Total Expense
Expressed as ratios to Gross Premium
Table 2.
% of MPCI Gross Premium
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
1992
1995
MPCI Expense Ratio
1998
2001
2004
2007
A&O Reimbursement Ratio
Expenses
1992-1998: PwC 1999 Update Exhibit 4 and Deloitte 2004 Report Exhibit 5.1
1999-2007: Surveys of NCIS member companies
A&O Reimbursement
1992-2006: MPCI data from RMA charts, August 14, 2007 as provided by NCIS
2007: Surveys of NCIS member companies
CROP INSURANCE TODAY
19
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TODAYcrop insurance
NCIS BOARD AND PDC
Meet Together
By Laurie Langstraat, NCIS
At least once each year, the NCS Board of Directors and the
Program Development Committee (PDC) meet together to discuss
issues that have been passed on to them for consideration by the
various NCIS standing committees. These committees, comprised
of member company representatives, provide invaluable input to
the recommended policy and procedural changes, or issues that
arise in the industry.
The PDC is the final body that reviews the recommendations
from each standing committee before they are passed on to the
Board of Directors for final action. This “training ground” for
future Board members is comprised of the chairmen of each
standing committee. This approach helps provide the PDC
members with first-hand insight into discussions that occurred at
the standing committee level with regards to each proposed
recommendation.
By meeting together, the PDC is able to present its recommendations in person to the full Board, which leads to more
discussion and interaction among the two groups, thus leading
to better changes for the entire industry.
The Board and PDC met together most recently following the
crop insurance industry annual convention in early February. This
picture was taken during that meeting.
NCIS Board of Directors
Steve Harms, Chairman, Rain and Hail L.L.C.
Steve Rutledge, Vice Chairman, Farmers Mutual Hail
Insurance Company of Iowa
Ted Etheredge, Second Vice Chairman, ARMtech
Insurance Services
Jim Aldeman, American Farm Bureau Insurance Services
Greg Burger, NAU Country Insurance
Ben Latham, ProAg Insurance Group
Robert Parkerson, National Crop Insurance Services
Randy Tronnes, Rural Community Insurance Services
Tim Weber, Great American Insurance Company
Program Development Committee
Back Row (left to right): Bob Haney, Michael Smith,
Mike Sieben-NCIS, Greg Burger, Dave Hall-NCIS, Ben Latham,
Laurence Crane-NCIS, Frank Schnapp-NCIS, Tim Weber, Gene
Grimsley, Ted Etheredge, Rod Clark-CGB Diversified Services,
Jim Crist-NCIS, Dallas Smith-NCIS Consultant, John Owen-NCIS,
and Greg Meek.
Front Row (left to right): Tom Zacharias-NCIS, Steve Rutledge,
Randy Tronnes, Bob Parkerson-NCIS, Steve Harms, Jim Aldeman,
Keith Collins-NCIS Consultant, and Troy Brady-NCIS.
Tim Weber, Chairman, Great American Insurance Company
(Member of the NCIS Board of Directors)
Ron Brichler, Great American Insurance Company
(Chair of the MPCI Actuarial & Statistics Committee)
Michael Connealy, ProAg Insurance Group
(Chair of the Crop-Hail Actuarial & Statistics Committee)
Mike Day, Rural Community Insurance Services
(Chair of the Training and Education Committee)
Gene Grimsley, Agro National L.L.C.
(Chair of the Public Relations Committee)
Bob Haney, Rain and Hail L.L.C.
(Liaison to the Litigation Committee)
Wade Shuler, Heartland Crop Insurance
(Chair of the MPCI Policy, Procedure, and Loss
Adjustment Committee)
Greg Meek, Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance Company of Iowa
(Chair of the Crop-Hail Policy, Procedure, and Loss
Adjustment Committee)
Michael Smith, ARMtech Insurance Services
(Chair of the Technology and Information
Processes Committee)
CROP INSURANCE TODAY
21
TODAYcrop insurance
CHAIRMEN
Learn Valuable Information
By Laurie Langstraat, NCIS
The NCIS Regional/State Crop Insurance Committees are an
integral part of the crop insurance industry. They are critical to the
communication flow within the industry and are organized for the
purpose of identifying issues that need attention and making recommendations to the Board of Directors. To ensure that the committees understand their role, function properly, and are effective
in accomplishing their responsibilities, the chairmen from each
committee participate in an annual training session.
The primary objective of the training session is to help the chairman succeed by preparing them for their official responsibilities.
Specific instruction is provided on: legal issues, including anti-trust
considerations; NCIS organizational structure; ensuring program
integrity; making recommendations to the NCIS Board of Directors;
operating in accordance with the NCIS Bylaws; planning and conducting effective meetings and loss school activities; parliamentary
procedure; and, understanding the range of products and services
offered by NCIS.
After the training, the participants better understand the role of
the NCIS Regional/State Crop Insurance Committees, what is
expected of them as chairman, and are prepared to successfully
fulfill their official duties.
It is a personal and professional honor to be elected chairman
of an NCIS Regional/State Crop Insurance Committee. The
expectations and responsibilities are great, but so are the rewards
for being selected by ones peers to serve in this important
leadership capacity.
2009 NCIS Regional/State
Committee Chairmen
California/Nevada
Joe Nunes, Great American Insurance Company
Colorado/Wyoming
Shawn Dalton, Rain and Hail LLC
East
Cindy Jackson, Great American Insurance Company
Gulf States
Larry Cox, Rain and Hail LLC
Illinois/Wisconsin
Ed Longman, Rural Community Insurance Services
Indiana/Ohio/Michigan
Julie Jordan, ARMtech Insurance
Iowa
Dave Benes, Farmers Mutual Hail Ins. Co. of Iowa
Kansas/Oklahoma
Mike Legleiter, Rain and Hail LLC
Kentucky/Tennessee
Terry Hayes, Great American Insurance Company
Minnesota
Keith Larsen, Rural Community Insurance Services
Missouri
Jim Baldwin, Rural Community Insurance Service
Montana
Rick Turner, NAU Country Insurance
Nebraska
Travis Gellaty, Heartland Crop Insurance
North Dakota
Dorne Meyer, Nodak Mutual
Northwest
Eric Lippa, ARMtech Insurance
(Left to Right): Rick Turner, Dorne Meyer, Jason Mathis, Terry Hayes,
Dave Benes, Cindy Jackson, Keith Larsen, Eric Lippa, Joe Nunes, Shawn
Dalton, Jim Baldwin, Ed Longman, Larry Cox, Jeff Lanier, Mike Legleiter.
South Dakota
Jason Mathis, Rain and Hail LLC
Southeast
Jeff Lanier, Rain and Hail LLC
Southwest
Charles Carthel, ProAg Insurance Group
22
MAY 09
TODAYcrop insurance
RUTH GERDES
Awarded the Crop Insurance
Industry Outstanding Service Award
By Laurie Langstraat, NCIS
Ruth Gerdes, Auburn Agency, Auburn,
Neb., is the recipient of the Crop Insurance
Industry Outstanding Service Award in
recognition for outstanding service and
outreach to small, limited resource, and
socially disadvantaged farmers. Randy
Tronnes, Chairman of the National Crop
Insurance Services (NCIS) Board of
Directors, and Robert Parkerson, President
of NCIS, presented the award at the 2009
Crop Insurance Industry Annual
Convention.
Mrs. Gerdes began her crop insurance
career in an agency located in Auburn,
Nebraska, and worked her way to becoming a partner in the agency. She is known
throughout southeast Nebraska and southwest Iowa as one of the most knowledgeable insurance agents specializing in multiple-peril crop insurance, and services policies throughout this region. Mrs. Gerdes
provides an annual one-day seminar to
producers to educate and provide them
with critical knowledge for quality decision
making.
In addition to her agency in Auburn,
Mrs. Gerdes works closely with an agent in
Marysville, Missouri, and also an agent in
Hillsboro, Ohio. She assists in marketing
seminars for their producers and provides
processing services for the policies and
acreage reports.
Mrs. Gerdes has been very active in the
24
MAY 09
Accepting the award on behalf of Mrs. Gerdes, who was unable to attend the convention, was
Joanie Grimes of the Auburn Agency of Ohio (center). Presenting the award was (left) Robert
Parkerson, President of National Crop Insurance Services (NCIS), and, Randy Tronnes (right),
Rural Community Insurance Services and Chairman of the NCIS Board of Directors.
political arena over the year, developing
strong relationships with political staffs and
members of congress. Mrs. Gerdes’ relationship with Senator Bob Kerrey of
Nebraska was vital in gaining approval of
Crop Revenue Coverage. Without the senator’s strong advocacy and relationship with
Mrs. Gerdes, the product may not have
been approved by FCIC. She also served
several terms on the National Corn
Growers Board, which was a strong partner in the approval of CRC. In addition,
she has been very active in industry committees sponsored both by the private
industry and FCIC.
Mrs. Gerdes and her husband, Myron,
live on and operate a large farming operation near Auburn, which has included cattle, hogs and program crops.
TODAYOBITUARIES
In Memory of
GORDON
SMITH
NCIS is mourning the loss
of our friend and co-worker,
Gordon Smith. Gordon
passed away on April 4,
2009, and he will be missed.
Most of you reading this
article didn’t know Gordon,
and unfortunately for you,
you missed out on knowing
a good man. As Director of
Administrative Research & Information Services, Gordon was
the NCIS problem-solver. His title seems vague, but the tasks he
performed were many and varied. He was actually a self-proclaimed “technology geek.” He loved working on computers
and was good at it. He enjoyed a challenge and he never
stopped working until he had a solution. Gordon ensured the
security of our computer servers, which contain millions of
pieces of statistical data, policies and procedure, and every
other piece of data created and stored within NCIS. He was
instrumental in implementing more than one phone system at
NCIS, and he took care of our cell phones, Blackberries, and
just about every other piece of equipment we have. Gordon
was willing to come to our homes on his own time to help us
with our personal computers. He would give advice about what
might be wrong with your car if you were having trouble – and
he was usually right. Gordon loved to fish, tinker with old cars
and boats, and just about anything that had a motor in it or was
in need of repair.
Gordon joined NCIS in early 1992, but left in 1996 “for greener
pastures.” However, just nine months later, Gordon returned to
NCIS saying “the grass isn’t any greener than it is here.” We were
thrilled to have him back.
Gordon loved to be mischievous, and he could be a little ornery
sometimes. Those who attend the annual update conferences and
meetings might remember Gordon for being the “NCIS Bouncer.”
He was never afraid of confronting (in fact, he looked forward to
the opportunity!) someone who wasn’t a registered attendee who
helped themselves to a cup of coffee or breakfast pastry to let them
know they were at the wrong place. He loved to play practical
jokes on staff, but didn’t carry through on all of them because he
just couldn’t bring himself “to be mean.” He was very good at making us feel important too. Sometimes, when he would work on our
computers and our office phone would ring, Gordon would immediately answer it and give the caller the impression that he was our
personal assistant. “Mrs. Langstraat is not available at this time but
I would be happy to give her the message as soon as possible.”
See, you may have “met” Gordon after all!
All of us at NCIS have special memories of our friend and there
are many stories we could share about him that would give you a
better idea of the man he was. But there isn’t room to do justice to
his 17 years with NCIS. What you need to know, most importantly, is that Gordon was a very valuable employee to this association,
and therefore to you, because he kept our technology up-to-date
and our data secure. He always wanted us to have the best equipment to make our jobs easier, allowing us to provide better service
to our members.
Gordon, you were a co-worker, but more than that, you were
our friend. You had a caring heart and were always eager to do for
others. You were a part of our NCIS family for many years, and you
will be missed greatly.
tribute
Memories
Co-worker Caring
FriendKindness
CROP INSURANCE TODAY
25
TODAYcrop insurance
JUDY ANDERSON
Given Crop Insurance Industry
Leadership Award
By Laurie Langstraat, NCIS
Judy Anderson, Rural Community
Insurance Services, was presented with the
Crop Insurance Industry Leadership Award
at the 2009 Crop Insurance Industry
Annual Convention. This award is given to
individuals who are directly involved in
the Crop Insurance Industry and who consistently serve the Industry by providing
outstanding leadership.
Mrs. Anderson has been involved in the
MPCI program in excess of 44 years, first
working with the Federal Crop Insurance
Corporation and later moving to the private industry side of the business. She has
been responsible for developing operating
procedures for the Rural Community
Insurance Services headquarters and the
RCIS Sales and Service Offices, as well as
handling day-to-day operations. The MPCI
program is extremely paper intensive and
Mrs. Anderson has been involved in developing technology solutions to streamline
processes that have led to MPCI premium
and liability being booked in a fast and
efficient manner; a valuable service to both
agents and producers.
As we all know, the MPCI program
involves many complex federal rules and
regulations, as well as many procedures
that must be followed by all those involved
in the business. Mrs. Anderson’s knowledge, experience and common sense have
helped many RCIS employees and agents
succeed in this challenging environment.
Her knowledge of MPCI has assisted many
others as she has been known as one of
the people to go to with questions on policy and procedure.
26
MAY 09
(left to right) Robert Parkerson, President, National Crop Insurance Services; Judy Anderson,
Rural Community Insurance Services; and, Randy Tronnes, Rural Community Insurance Services
and Chairman of the NCIS Board of Directors.
Throughout the course of her career,
she has testified on behalf of the crop
insurance industry before the U.S. Senate.
In addition, she has served on the NCIS
MPCI Actuarial and Statistical Committee,
has chaired the NCIS Training Committee,
and has been a member of the NCIS
Product Development Committee.
Continued from President’s Message
to be lost in our nation’s capital is some
basic understanding of how a program
such as this works. You don’t judge this
program based on a four or five year
period of time. You must step back and,
at the very minimum, look at 20-25 years
of experience. This type of tunnel vision
could ruin crop insurance…the key to
financial stability for American farmers
and ranchers. A program that enables
producers to supply our country with
food and fiber now and for the future.
Should this safety net become a political
target with careless and randomly placed
budget holes poked into it, we could
end up losing our affordable food supply
and raise the nation’s debt even higher.
This industry is willing to do its part
and would more than enthusiastically sit
down with USDA and have a genuine
discussion on risk management and the
financial applications that are required
to have a successful and cost efficient
program.
TODAYcrop insurance
Industry Donates Money
TO HIDDEN HARVEST
CHARITY
By Laurie Langstraat, NCIS
The crop insurance industry presented
a check for over $2,500 to the Hidden
Harvest charity located in the Coachella
Valley of southern California. The money
was raised during the crop insurance
industry’s annual convention in February.
“We were very pleased with the generosity of the members of our association
to give to such a great organization,” said
Bob Parkerson, president of National Crop
Insurance Services, one of the trade associations co-sponsoring the annual convention. “It was the first year we have done
something like this during our event, but I
think it’s definitely something we’ll continue to do in the future.”
Hidden Harvest’s mission is to glean or
“rescue” produce from Coachella Valley
fields and packing houses. The Valley is
one of the largest agricultural regions in
the nation yet few people realize that millions of pounds of nutritious, locallygrown produce are left behind after the
harvest is complete.
Hidden Harvest is the only organization
in the country that pays low-income, experienced farm workers to glean fields. The
food is given to more than 60 agencies that
serve the poor. In addition, Hidden
Harvest educates the media and public
(left to right) Randy Tronnes, Rural Community Insurance Services, Chairman of the NCIS Board
of Directors; Christy Porter, Hidden Harvest; Bob Parkerson, President, National Crop Insurance
Services; and, Sherri Scharff, National Crop Insurance Services.
about hunger and nutrition issues, provides
cooking classes so people learn how to
prepare the food they are given, and run a
non-perishable food bank serving an average of 1,200 families a month.
We can’t thank you enough for your
generous contribution,” said Christy Porter,
founder and director of Hidden Harvest,
told the attendees at the annual convention. “This will go such a long way in
continuing the work we do at Hidden
Harvest and helping the people of the
Coachella Valley.”
Crop insurance helps make America’s
farmers and ranchers world leaders in
agriculture, allowing producers to stay
competitive and be more innovative.
Sixteen private crop insurance companies
provide this important risk management
tool to agricultural producers throughout
the United States and abroad.
TODAYOBITUARIES
E. RAY FOSSE
E. Ray Fosse, 90, of Marion, Ill.,
passed away on April 13, 2009. Mr.
Fosse was the Manager of the CropHail Insurance Actuarial Association
(CHIAA), predecessor organization
to NCIS, from 1968-1983. In 1986,
he became the Manager of the
Federal Crop Insurance Corporation.
Memorial donations may be made to
the First Presbyterian Church or
Hospice of Southern Illinois and will
be accepted at Mitchell-Hughes
Funeral Home, 800 N. Market Street,
Marion, IL 62959. A complete obituary and tribute to Mr. Fosse will be
in the August issue of Crop
Insurance TODAY.
CROP INSURANCE TODAY
27
NCIS
Under the direction of its Board of
Directors, National Crop Insurance
Services has developed two national
awards to be given to individuals who
achieve excellence in the criteria set out by
the awards.
The first award is the Outstanding
Service Award. This award, primarily for
agents, has actually been in existence since
2001 and has been awarded to several
excellent individuals. The purpose of this
award is to promote exceptional service
industry-wide, and encourage outstanding
outreach efforts to all farmers, especially
limited-resource farmers, by highlighting
an individual who has demonstrated
exceptional service.
INDUSTRY
AWARDS
The newest award established is the
Industry Leadership Award. This award,
targeted primarily to members of the NCIS
regional/state crop insurance committees,
was created to formally recognize individuals who are directly involved in the crop
insurance industry and who consistently
serve the industry by providing outstanding
leadership. Company employees at both
the field and management level are eligible
to be nominated.
The criteria for both awards are:
1. Strong personal and business ethics.
2. Demonstrated service above and
beyond to the crop insurance industry.
3. Represents themselves, their company,
and the crop insurance industry well.
The two winners will be presented with
their awards at the crop insurance industry
annual convention held in February of
each year.
All nominations must be submitted in
writing to NCIS by October 15, 2009, for
awards to be given at the 2010 Annual
Convention. For nomination information
and forms to be submitted, please go to
the NCIS website at www.ag-risk.org to
download. If you have any questions
regarding the criteria or whom is eligible
for either award, please contact Laurie
Langstraat at NCIS at lauriel@ag-risk.org or
913-685-2767.
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