“Planting a crop means sticking a lot of money in the ground,” says Mike Northrop.

A family affair
Mike owns and operates Northrop and Sons, LLC, a busy dairy farm in Rodman, N.Y., where he and two of his sons grow corn and alfalfa for forage on about 500 acres of owned and rented land. 

The family sells part of their crop to an ethanol plant and to other farmers for silage. With so much invested, Mike felt the need for protection against the conditions they can’t control.

Crop insurance is crucial
To shield against revenue loss from low yield or market fluctuations, Mike turned to Farm Credit East for revenue protection insurance. For his hay crop, he now carries pasture, rangeland and forage coverage, which protects him from loss due to lack of moisture. 

“Of all the insurances that I buy, crop insurance is a good buy that has paid me more than I have paid in,” he said. “It helps me sleep at night, because if all goes bad, I have something to fall back on.” 

“As long as I grow crops, I will take advantage of crop insurance to protect my investment,” said Mike.

This article originally ran in Farm Credit East’s customer magazine, Financial Partner.