Crop Insurance Today August 2016 - 15

* Planning and conducting effective meetings and summer schools and field days; * How to make recommendations about policies, procedures or research; and * Use of web sites having information and tools relevant to crop insurance. A popular and important component of the session includes a roundtable discussion on current events, conditions, regional issues and hot topics from every area of the country. It is easy to only concern ourselves with our own little piece of the world and forget crop insurance is written in all 50 states. States like California were struggling with drought last year and are experiencing improved conditions, but the concern is still present. Producers in the Gulf States region are experiencing excess precipitation and having difficulty getting this year's crop in the field. The upper Midwest and Central regions are concerned about potential freeze damage on fruit trees and other crops that are coming out of dormancy ahead of schedule due to the mild conditions. However, there was agreement in a majority of the regions, especially those areas where WFRP (Whole-Farm Revenue Protection) had not previously been available, that WFRP is unique and requires skill sets to sell, underwrite, and adjust claims that do 2016 Regional/State Chairman Arizona/California/Nevada-Doug Ollenberger, AgriLogic Insurance Services Colorado/Wyoming-Brandon Thomas, ProAg Insurance East-Joey Brickhouse, ProAg Insurance Gulf States-Dustin Tubbs, ProAg Insurance Illinois/Wisconsin-Allen Denison, AgriLogic Insurance Services Indiana/Ohio/Michigan-Meg Yandell, RCIS Iowa-Elizabeth Allison, RCIS Kansas/Oklahoma-Christopher Deetjen, Heartland Crop Insurance Kentucky/Tennessee-Hunter Ward, Great American Minnesota-Duane Barton, Diversified Crop Insurance Missouri-Jami Wells, ProAg Insurance Montana-Bob McPherson, ProAg Insurance Nebraska-Derek Raburn, Great American North Dakota-Chad Nesemeier, Great American Northwest-Jim LaPointe, ProAg Insurance South Dakota-Tim Franz, Rain and Hail Southeast-Michael Smith, Rain and Hail Southwest-Kyle Sisk, QBE NAU not apply to any other Federal crop insurance program. Some of the regional/state committees meet on a monthly basis, some quarterly and some as needed. All member companies are notified of the meetings and strongly encouraged to attend, listen and discuss issues that may have happened or that could potentially be a concern for all companies. Each committee has a NCIS liaison that they work with and is the contact point to ensure that all member companies receive notices and minutes of the meetings. If an issue needs to be forwarded on to a NCIS standing committee, the NCIS liaison is the person to do that. Not only do the chairmen gain knowledge from the training session but so does the NCIS staff by knowing what is happening out in the field. It is a personal and professional honor to be elected as chairman of a regional/state committee. The expectations and responsibilities are great but so are the rewards for being selected by your peers to serve in this important leadership position. The chairmen now better understand the role of the committees, what is expected of them and are prepared to successfully fulfill their official duties. Most of the committees were represented at the training by their chairman, but in some cases where the chairman wasn't available, another committee member attended. CROPINSURANCE TODAY® 15

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crop Insurance Today August 2016