Nationwide: Don’t Leave Your Farm’s Future to Chance: Why a Wait-and-See Mindset Isn’t Enough

The following information is provided by Nationwide®, an insurance and financial services company.

Today’s agricultural landscape is more unpredictable than ever, and recent research from Nationwide highlights a growing concern: nearly half of farmers believe they can simply respond to a business disruption as it happens. While this wait-and-see risk management approach may have worked in the past, it’s no longer sufficient in a world where unexpected events can quickly threaten the stability of a farm operation. Now is the time to shift from reacting to proactive planning, and Nationwide’s Farm Risk Ready^SM provides the resources to get started.

Wait-and-See Puts Farms at Risk

Research conducted by Nationwide¹ reveals the top business disruption risks for farmers include losing access to key markets, supply chain interruptions, food safety concerns, animal disease outbreaks or cybersecurity threats. But nearly half of the farmers surveyed feel only moderately prepared to handle these potential business disruptions, and 65% of farmers operate without a formal resiliency plan. This preparedness gap can hinder recovery from setbacks and limit the ability to capitalize on new opportunities.

The research found that farmers often overlook planning because they believe these threats are out of their control compared to more familiar financial and marketing risks. While it’s natural to focus on familiar challenges, overlooking emerging disruption risks can leave operations exposed.

External Risks Can Be Managed

Even disruption risks that seem out of immediate control can be managed with the right strategies. A well-developed risk plan documents strategies to prevent risks, maintain operations and recover in the event of a disruption. This helps protect people and assets while building resiliency within an operation. Building a resilient business means having the ability to anticipate, absorb, accommodate or recover from the effects of a shock or stress in a timely and efficient manner, ensuring greater confidence against the unexpected.

The Value of Proactive Planning

Proactively managing risk not only protects against disruptions but also unlocks opportunities for growth and innovation. According to the research, farmers who have a risk plan in place report greater confidence and adaptability. They take steps to prevent losses, diversify markets and demonstrate they are a good risk to insurers and lenders. As one producer shared, having a plan in place made all the difference when unexpected challenges arose.

“We have had two major wholesale customers abruptly cancel our contracts due to problems in their operation. Now, we work hard to have multiple markets, and no single point of failure.” - Northeastern producer

Producers with risk plans are better equipped to take advantage of business opportunities and execute their business plans successfully. The difference comes down to whether resilience planning happens before or after a disruption occurs.

Farm Risk Ready Makes Planning Easy

The bottom line: today’s challenges require more than hope. Farmers who continue to rely on wait-and-see risk management approaches leave their operations vulnerable to disruptions that can derail growth and stability.

Nationwide’s Farm Risk Ready equips farmers with tools and resources to assess vulnerabilities on the farm and develop practical action plans that strengthen resilience. Don’t wait for the next disruption, start building a Farm Risk Ready plan today at nationwide.com/farmriskready.

Special Member Savings

At Southern States ®, we are proud to be a farmer-owned cooperative. Southern States has partnered with Nationwide ® to offer Southern States Cooperative member-producers in North Carolina and Virginia special discounts on farm insurance. In addition to giving you exclusive insurance savings, we're also joining forces to support the cooperative that means so much to you.

Nationwide^® Agribusiness is a leading insurer of farms and commercial agribusiness in the U.S. Go to nationwide.com/southernstates to find a local agent.

[1] “Nationwide Farmer Resiliency Research: How Farmers Perceive, Prepare for and Manage Business Continuity Challenges,” Nationwide, MorganMyers, a G&S Agency and Millenium Research,” https://staging.nationwide.apps.nwie.net/staticassets/GPO-0762AO_FarmRiskReady-ResearchPaper_tcm108-100716.pdf (PDF) (December, 2024).