Crop Insurance Today Fourth Quarter 2019 - 31

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NCIS is the primary provider of essential actuarial services for the industry. This service enables
companies to pool their actuarial data in order
to access and utilize the industry-level statistical
database. No individual company possesses sufficient credible data to promulgate its own premium rates. Each year, NCIS members submit their
individual company data to NCIS for processing
and ultimately that data is used to develop Final
Average Loss Costs (FALC) that are filed with the
state insurance departments as the basis for companies' premium rates.
Much like Burt sharing his own individual
experience, the sharing of individual company
data enables all participating companies to better
understand the risk pool and better underwrite
their respective books of business. By sharing information, we all catch more fish.

Loss Adjustment Research
What are they Biting On?

There is a great scene in the iconic fly-fishing film "A River Runs Through It" where Paul
Maclean (played by Brad Pitt) asks his brother
Norman (played by Craig Sheffer) "what are they
biting on?"
To be successful in crop insurance, as in fly
fishing, one has to put in the hours of research
and trial and error to have the knowledge to
be an experienced adjuster or angler. The good
angler needs to understand the hatch, the water
columns, and the like. Similarly, a crop adjuster
must understand the stages of crop growth, the
effects of weather, and good farming practices.
The adjuster also relies on the loss adjustment
procedures, which are developed through years
of agronomic research, conducted under the
auspices of NCIS. By attending training sessions
to learn proper application of those procedures,
adjusters become credible representatives of the
industry when adjusting losses.
The NCIS industry-funded agronomic research program serves to improve and validate
crop loss adjustment procedures for both state
and federally regulated lines of crop insurance.
This research is conducted at major agricultural
universities throughout the United States. Application of science-based crop loss adjustment
procedures ensures that farmers are paid fairly
and accurately, thus contributing to the integrity
of the crop insurance program. The research program enables companies to share in the cost of

developing crop loss adjustment procedures and
standards, rather than this cost being borne individually by each company. In effect, the industry
research program provides the trained adjuster
with a "fully-stocked fly box" of loss procedures
in order to be able to adjust a diversity of crops
for the myriad forms of crop damage and weather conditions facing the farmer.

Training and Education
"Give a man a fish, and you
feed him for a day. Teach a
man to fish, and you feed
him for a lifetime."

(Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie)
Burt took the time to educate my brother on
just the right fly to use that morning. Education
is fundamental to any successful endeavor. Likewise, training is essential to get the basics down,
i.e. how to cast, how to tie off a fly, etc.
Providing opportunities for underwriters,
trainers, supervisors, and loss adjusters to learn
about the changes in crop insurance-like new
crop policies or changes to procedures-will

always be an important role of our trade association. NCIS holds three major training
conferences each year-two on underwriting
procedures and one for claims. Hundreds of individuals attend those conferences and then use the
materials to train other staff and agents. In 2019,
NCIS, with the help of the regional/state committees, held 16 schools and field days on almost 20
different crops. Whether it is a national conference or a regional adjuster school, NCIS training
supplements the company-provided education
to ensure that farmers and ranchers understand
their crop insurance options, and know that, if
they suffer a loss, their claim will be adjusted accurately and fairly.
Another example of industry training is the
NCIS Certified Adjuster Proficiency Program
(CAPP). CAPP was developed to help crop adjusters comply with state adjuster training and
licensing requirements as specified in the Standard Reinsurance Agreement (SRA) between the
USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA) and
the Approved Insurance Providers (AIPs). CAPP
ensures that adjusters who successfully complete
the program are qualified and adequately trained

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Crop Insurance Today Fourth Quarter 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crop Insurance Today Fourth Quarter 2019