Insurance product associated with risk management on the application of crop inputs

• US 20060015360A1
• Filed: 10/21/2004
• Published: 01/19/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 07/19/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fmh ag risk insurance company
• Original Assignee: Fmh ag risk insurance company
• Inventors: Ochs, Yanhong, McComb, Shawn James
• Granted Patent: US 11,144,995 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/4
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance

Abstract

An insurance product comprises a crop risk insurance policy component that insures against risk of loss for at least drought. An endorsement assembly is associated with the crop risk insurance policy component. The endorsement assembly comprises a grower compliance requirement, a right of payment, and ancillary terms and conditions. The grower compliance requirement requires a grower to comply with a qualified crop input plan for a particular crop in a field. The right of payment is contingent upon a first yield per unit land area of the particular in the field less than second yield per unit land area of a geographic area by more than a threshold amount. The geographic area covers a greater area than the field and is representative of at least one of the soil characteristics and the climate associated with the field. The right of payment is contingent upon compliance of the grower with the ancillary terms and conditions.

Claims

1. An insurance product comprising:

a crop risk insurance policy component that insures against risk of loss for at least drought;

an endorsement assembly associated with the crop risk insurance policy component, the endorsement assembly comprising;

a grower compliance requirement requiring a grower to comply with a qualified crop input plan for a particular crop in a field;

a right of payment contingent upon a first yield per unit land area of the particular in the field less than second yield per unit land area of a geographic area by more than a threshold amount, the geographic area covering a greater area than the field and representative of at least one of the soil characteristics and the climate associated with the field; and

ancillary terms and conditions, the right of payment contingent upon compliance of the grower with the ancillary terms and conditions.

2. The insurance product according to claim 1 wherein the minimum threshold percentage is approximately five percent.

3. The insurance product according to claim 1 wherein the geographic area comprises one or more of the following:

a country, a state, a county, a province, a canton, a region, a weather growing zone, a rainfall zone, a climate zone, and a soil parameter zone.

4. The insurance product according to claim 1 wherein the first yield per land unit is measured by at least one of a mass sensor, a weight sensor, flow sensor, a moisture sensor, a piezoelectric transducer, a grain flow sensor, a grain moisture sensor, a ground speed sensor, a header position switch, an impact force sensor, a plate displacement sensor, a volume measurement device, a load cell system, a radiometric system, and a capacitance sensor.

5. The insurance product according to claim 1 wherein a sensor detects the first yield per land unit at one of a harvester and a combine;

and a transmitter associated with the sensor transmits the first yield per land unit to a data processing system via an electromagnetic signal.

6. The insurance product according to claim 1 wherein the second yield per land unit excludes the yields associated with compliant fields within the geographic area that follow the management plan.

7. The insurance product according to claim 1 wherein the second yield per land unit excludes the yields associated with noncompliant fields within the geographic area that do not follow the management plan.

8. The insurance product according to claim 1 wherein the ancillary terms and conditions require the grower to establish or have established a test strip and at least one check strip associated with the test strip a the field.

9. The insurance product according to claim 1 wherein the ancillary terms and conditions include identifying different zones in the field based on at least one of soil properties and previously grown crops and associating a test strip with each identified different zone.

10. The insurance product according to claim 1 wherein the zones are based on a crop history for the zone, a crop input history for the zone, a historic nutrient exposure of the zone, and a nutrient mobility rating associated with the zone, and a hydraulic mobility rating associated with the zone, and an irrigated zone versus a non-irrigated zone.