Without cotton, the world would be a very different place. After all, it is an agricultural leader in the United States and beyond. Cotton farms for the most part are found in Texas. However, states like Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas also rank for numerous cotton gins per state.
Therefore, if you are in these states and need to protect your crop and ensure that you also are protecting your investments in the industry, and consequently the success of your business, you want to know more about insurance coverage for cotton ginning.
Insurance Coverage For Cotton Ginning
The following are some areas of coverage you should consider if you are in the cotton ginning business:
- Machinery or Equipment Breakdown: The machinery needed to run a cotton gin can get very pricey in terms of repair or replacement costs. Therefore, it’s important to have protection against machinery and equipment breakdown. In fact, this area along with the gin stock floater protection are the two most important areas of coverage needed for the average cotton gin.
- Gin Stock Floater: The gin stock floater protects the cotton after it is picked, meaning that it houses the valuable resource all the way from when it is in the field through the ginning process. The gin stock floater is therefore a valuable piece of equipment that must be protected via insurance coverage.
- Motor Vehicles: All cotton gin businesses rely on a fleet of motor vehicles to get the job done. Therefore, it’s important to make sure that any policy includes coverage for these needed vehicles.
- Fire: Another possible issue and therefore needed protection area is the risk of fire. The risk for fire within the cotton industry is paramount, so this needs to be protected against in any comprehensive insurance coverage.
- Liability: This category within the broader coverage could include employers' liability, environmental liability, or third-party liability. In all cases, it protects you the business owner from having to pay up if someone is hurt on your property or your business accidentally causes some environmental issue.
- Electronic/Tech Equipment: The cotton industry has come a long way since its earliest history of being a primarily manual labor industry. Today, many of the tools that make the ginning process possible are electronic in nature and utilize technology. In many cases, the greatest risk for electronics is damage caused by a power surge. It’s important for all tech and electronic equipment to be protected from this as well as other issues.
- Goods in Transit: Getting your stock from one place to another means it is at risk for damage, fire or accident during this transit process. Therefore, it’s important to have coverage that protects your valuable stock throughout this process, ensuring that you are compensated if something happens to your stock at any point during transit.
- Spontaneous Combustion: This accident can occur when the natural organic substances within the cotton catch fire and ignite on their own, without apparent cause from outside forces. This is possible because cotton, lint and cottonseed are all susceptible to internal microbial self-heating. Some consider spontaneous combustion as the greatest risk for cotton-producing and ginning, so it’s important to make sure this is part of your agribusiness coverage.
- Loss of Profit: If something happens to your equipment, and it breaks down and prevents you from producing the ideal amount of cotton, your profit line can suffer. Thankfully, agribusiness insurance can protect you from loss of profit due to machine breakdown or other factors.
Bottom Line: You Need Proper Coverage For Your Agribusiness
It is vital to do everything you can to protect your business’s operations from losses. Getting the insurance coverage you need is the most critical aspect to prevent and mitigate these losses.
