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Taking Inventory of Your Farm Equipment

Be prepared if you have to file an insurance claim

Think about how long it took to accumulate your valuable farm equipment and the money you spent on each piece. If disaster were to strike your farm or ranch - such as a fire, flood or tornado - would you be able to make a list of all of the damaged or destroyed equipment for your insurer?

That’s why having a complete, up-to-date equipment inventory is so important. Having a detailed record of each piece of equipment, including purchase date and purchase price, helps ensure your insurance company can fairly and quickly reimburse you according to your policy provisions. Many farm management software packages include inventory tools that help make the job easier - but a notebook and a file box of organized receipts can also work.

Once an inventory is established, it’s important that you store this file in a safe place off-site, such as a safe deposit box. If your home were damaged, your records could be damaged, too. “After a disaster, it’s very chaotic and hard to think clearly,” says Jim Drummond, farm loss prevention consultant, Nationwide Agribusiness Insurance Company, Des Moines, IA. “The last thing you need is to scramble around looking for essential information that’s required to file a claim.”

Taking inventory helps you in other ways, too

There are additional benefits of conducting an annual equipment inventory. You can see if some pieces of equipment might need to be repaired or replaced in the off-season, and when you renew your farm insurance, you can check the policy against your inventory list to make sure your equipment is adequately insured or add any new purchases to the policy.

During your inventory, consider marking each piece with a permanent identification number. If your equipment were to be stolen, an ID number would aid law enforcement in its recovery. Use a metal engraver or stamping tool, and place the number in an inconspicuous spot that thieves wouldn’t notice.

What you need to do

As you take inventory of your equipment, be sure to record the following information for each piece:

• Type of machinery and brand
• Model number
• Serial number
• Model year
• ID number
• Cost when purchased
• Receipt showing where item was purchased
• Estimated replacement value

Be sure to inventory all pieces of equipment essential to your operation, such as:

• Tractors, trucks, ATVs
• Combines, corn pickers
• Backhoes, hay balers, wagons
• Disks, cultivators
• Seeders and planters
• Fertilizer spreaders, sprayers
• Milking machines, air compressors
• Pumps, irrigation equipment, air compressors
• Posthole diggers, manure spreaders
• Mowers, snow throwers, motors