Barbre heard from producers and lenders at a roundtable held by Sen. John Hoeven, R-ND, at the North Central Research Extension Center, Minot, on Monday.

He said he planned to take the local stories and recommendations for improving crop insurance back to Washington. In the meantime, farmers need to take steps to stay ahead of insurance deadlines in the event of losses, he said. He intends to take that message to farmers, regional offices and insurance agents in coming days.

“If you want to continue to try to harvest, go to your agent and tell him to request of your company an extension to harvest,” Barbre said. “It doesn’t extend the insurance, but if you are granted the time to harvest, any insurable peril is still covered during that time. The point is, you still have coverage.”

If the crop isn’t harvested when an extension ends, a producer can seek another extension, he said. The decision to extend rests with the insurance company, but Barbre noted it makes sense for them to do so.

Jill Schramm/MDN Paul Thomas with the N.D. Corn Growers speaks at a roundtable in Minot Monday, flanked by Ed Kessel with the N.D. Grain Growers, left, and Steve Perdue with the U.S. Durum Association, right.

“At the same time, you might want to get that adjuster out there at the end of the insurance period, get an appraisal so you know where you are starting from,” he said.

North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring added farmers shouldn’t be discouraged if the adjustment isn’t what they hope for or think is fair.

“If you don’t like the adjustment you have, don’t sign off on it,” he said. “Just hold tight and ask for another.”

Ryan Pederson, Rolette, vice president of the North Dakota Soybean Growers, said farmers would like to harvest what they can rather than give up and seek a crop adjustment.

“But we’ve got cash needs. All of a sudden, you are almost forced to ask for an appraisal,” he said. He suggested farmers with a crop that can still be harvested be allowed to borrow up from their loan guarantee “to keep farmers from being forced to make that tough decision and at the same time, infuse some cash into the operating needs that we have.”

A concern was raised about instances in which fields are ruled a total loss because those crops, under USDA rules, must be destroyed by fire or discing. Until that happens, the farmer can’t collect insurance, but snow and frost are preventing efforts to destroy the crops. Barbre responded calculating a loss that doesn’t quite zero out the crop might be more beneficial to a producer needing the cash.

“It’s certainly a concern for all of the corn industry throughout North Dakota is the lack of cash flow,” said Paul Thomas, Velva, vice president of the North Dakota Corn Growers. “A large part of our farm is corn. With the struggles we’ve had this year, trying to maximize our return on that corn has involved letting it stand in the field a little longer to reduce drying costs.”

That delay in harvesting is difficult when facing a deadline on insurance, he said, adding corn farmers just need flexibility.

“We just want to make sure that those companies, hopefully, work with us,” Thomas said of insurers.

Farmers also are thinking ahead to spring and what might happen if crops still are in the field because harvest hasn’t been possible.

Tim Erbele, Streeter, with the North Dakota Stockmen’s Association said he has soybeans he considers unretrievable.

“It’s springy, soggy ground now and we’ve had record rainfall where I’m at. I’m talking a record – two to two and half times our annual precipitation in the last two months. So I can’t get a combine in there,” he said. “Am I going to be able to collect prevent plant in there next year? Even predicating that loss, will I get paid for those beans that are not retrievable?”

Barbre acknowledged a crop still in the field in the spring, if it doesn’t cause prevent planting, it will cause delayed planting. Whether that standing crop makes a field eligible for a prevented planting insurance claim could depend on whether the producer claimed a loss on it, he said.

Barbre agreed work on producer concerns regarding crop insurance.

“I can’t make any promises that I can fix a darn thing, but I can guarantee you, we’re going to look at it,” Barbre said.

“I think we have the right guy to help us get some of these things going,” Hoeven said. “I hope it can help for this year as much as possible, but I also hope we get some of these things done for future years as well.”