Dot the Trees

What actually happens after you call your agent about damage? Jared Witters, Pacific Northwest Claim Supervisor at Great American Insurance, walks Josh Benson through the whole claims process, from the first notice of loss to the check in the mail.

Jared grew up a military brat with Washington roots, met his wife on a volleyball court thirty years ago, and found his way to crop insurance through retail management, auto and homeowners claims, and an agency front office. Thirteen years at Great American later, he supervises claims in the most specialty-crop-dense region in the country, and he still adjusts claims himself.

In this episode:

• What a claim supervisor actually does, and why Jared expects his adjusters to contact the agent and the grower within 24 hours of assignment
• The claims process step by step: notice of loss, assignment, inspection, production records, signatures, and a check about seven days after you sign
• Replant, prevent plant and harvest claims, and why seed crop growers should file every year during the insurance window
• Why you should check your schedule of insurance the day it arrives. Early errors can be fixed; once a claim is open, they usually cannot
• The record keeping habit that makes everything smoother: keep settlement sheets, bin counts and load records for about seven years
• Whole farm revenue protection: if you think you have suffered a loss, file the claim. Don't wait for your taxes
• The myth to retire for good: filing a claim does not raise your rates and does not get your policy cancelled. Worst case, it is a withdrawal

If you think you have suffered damage, file a claim.

Learn more about Great American's crop division: https://greatamericancrop.comGreat American Insurance Company is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

Dot the Trees is the insure.ag podcast. It covers specialty crops and the safety net behind them, in plain language. More at https://www.insure.ag/crop-insurance-podcast/

This podcast is for general educational purposes only and is not insurance advice.

How do you change a family’s trajectory for generations? Jennifer Witherbee, Executive Director of the Washington Apple Education Foundation (WAEF), tells Josh Benson how the tree fruit industry does it.

Jennifer grew up in a tree fruit family in the Chelan area. She joined WAEF in 2001, spent a few years at Larson Gross, and then came back. She and Josh talk about why the foundation “captures your heart,” and how the industry built a scholarship program that stays with students all the way to graduation.

In this episode:
– WAEF’s largest year yet: more than $1.3 million in scholarships for 322 students
– Why scholarships are renewed every year, not just the first, and how that keeps more than 90% of WAEF students on track
– Scholarships for vocational and technical programs as well as universities
– How about 300 volunteers help students explore careers and build a network, and how you can join them with your time and experience
– The November match campaign, with gifts matched by insure.ag, CMI Orchards, BASF and Bayer Crop Science
– Jennifer’s one ask for every orchard, warehouse and packing house: make sure eligible students know the scholarship application is open

Learn more about WAEF: https://waef.org
Apply for a scholarship: https://waef.org/scholarships
Donate: https://waef.org/donate
Volunteer: https://waef.org/volunteer
Connect with Jennifer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-witherbee-4741b13a

Dot the Trees is the insure.ag podcast. It covers specialty crops and the safety net behind them, in plain language. More at https://www.insure.ag/crop-insurance-podcast/

This podcast is for general educational purposes only and is not insurance advice.

Crop insurance has been sold the same way for decades. In our first episode, host Josh Benson sits down with Insure.ag CEO and co-founder Andrew Burdock to talk about why that's changing.

Andrew spent a decade in agritech and co-founded Aerobotics before building Insure.ag, and he's watched technology transform how growers farm while the insurance behind those farms barely moved. Josh and Andrew dig into the current state of the crop insurance landscape, what satellite and aerial imagery actually change for a grower's policy, where AI genuinely helps and where the hype outruns reality, and the trends they think will reshape how specialty crops get insured over the next few years.

Dot the Trees is real talk about crops insurance and beyond and the people behind them, from the team at Insure.ag. Farmer first crop insurance. Learn more at insure.ag.