The company
Hudson Crop and Livestock offers federal crop and livestock insurance, along with a wide range of private products for farmers and ranchers across the United States. The company also provides a broad range of tools that help producers manage risk and prevent costly over-insurance with accurate-to-the-acre coverage. Clients trust that they’re buying only what they need, which helps Hudson’s agents sell more policies. This precision program is powered by accurate and timely data provided by Leaf.
The challenge
Jamie Hageman, Hudson Crop and Livestock’s Precision Ag Manager, joined the company three years ago. At that time, Hudson was using a combination of point solution tools to manually collect and process data. He found the legacy system to be slow, wasteful, and limited in how large it could scale. Hageman explains, “For a 10,000-acre producer, it took two people three full days to pull data into the system, check that it was right, and then import it to our mapping system.”
The problems didn’t stop after customers were set up. Hageman adds, “Out in the field, it needed too much staff support and too much time, and it was hard for the adjusters to use.”
Those lost hours were distracting agents from working with policyholders. For Hudson Crop and Livestock, these challenges represented massive risks to growth. In a market where 62% of row crop farmers purchase insurance annually and precision programs are a key competitive edge, Hudson Crop and Livestock couldn’t afford to lag behind.
The solution
Hudson Crop and Livestock first thought about building its own software connections, but leaders quickly realized that it would be tough to keep up with the fast-changing precision ag industry. Hageman already knew Leaf from his time at another insurance provider, so he set up a demo. He was impressed with how much the platform had grown.
“In just a couple of years, the product had added so many unmatched features and powerful capabilities that the choice was a no-brainer,” he says.
The results
Using Leaf has made Hudson Crop and Livestock’s enrollment and verification process 97% faster and easier for both farmers and agents. Instead of relying on old Common Land Unit (CLU) boundaries, some of which are based on aerial photos from the 1970s, agents can now pull exact planting data straight into Hudson Crop and Livestock’s system. They simply check the data, present it to the client for approval, and move forward with confidence.
The new process offers critical value by helping farmers insure only the acres they actually plant. This prevents costly over-insurance, saving farmers an average of 7–10% every year. Additionally, the smoother process has improved customer experience and freed staff members to focus on relationship-building and other higher-value tasks.
Leaf’s integrations have helped Hudson Crop and Livestock’s team speed operations up 36 times during the busy planting, growing, and harvest seasons The same 10,000 acre-field setup process that once took two people three days can now be done in as little as two hours. This efficiency frees adjusters to focus on more important tasks and allows them to spend time with customers instead of dealing with data problems.
The new system also handles growth better. Hageman says he can now imagine managing precision data for a million acres without increasing staff, something that would have been impossible with the old process. By removing manual bottlenecks, Hudson Crop and Livestock can serve more farmers with greater speed and accuracy, without needing more staff. For policyholders, this means faster claims, more accurate maps, and a smoother overall experience. Hudson Crop and Livestock uses precision data to build stronger and more personal customer relationships by speeding up every operation from establishing new policies to paying claims. This helps them stand out in a competitive industry where federally-reinsured products are virtually the same.
Ready to grow a precision program and help your AIP (Approved Insurance Provider) or other crop insurance brand scale? Find out how collecting, organizing, and leveraging farm data more efficiently with Leaf can help. Schedule a demo today.
Hudson Crop and Livestock Insurance Company is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
