SACRAMENTO, CA, May 3, 2018 -- More Than 400 risk and insurance professionals this week attended the Emmett J Vaughan IRMI Agribusiness Conference, offering a forum where agents, brokers, underwriters, and insurance buyers gained expertise to properly insure the unique exposures of farms and agribusinesses while networking and sharing best practice ideas with peers in the industry.

For more than 30 years, the program has been held in Sacramento, where the Agribusiness and Farm Insurance Specialist (AFIS®) certification can be earned or renewed.

This year's event event kicked off with a panel discussion led by Millie Workman of IRMI and panelists representing both agribusiness insurers and agents.  

"The overall theme was Trends in Agribusiness and the panel discussed the need to recruit, train and retain top talent to replace the hundreds of thousands of people who will be exiting the industry in the next few years, the use of data and analytics in underwriting farm and agribusiness accounts, and the continuing need to solidify relationships between policyholders, agents and brokers and insurers," said Cheryl Koch, CPCU, CIC, ARM, AAI, API, AAM, AIM, AIS, ARP, ACSR, President & CEO of Agency Management Resource Group, and a founding member of the Agribusiness Conference. 

In addition to presenting all five courses leading to the Agribusiness and Farm Insurance (AFIS) certification, more than 30 breakout sessions were conducting on topics including the increasing use of technology in farming, the impact of recent disasters on underwriting and pricing, employment law and other farm labor issues, the anatomy of a property claim, equine risk management and understanding the emerging risks surrounding the legalization of marijuana.  

Other events included a chance to mingle with conference sponsors, an opportunity to “Stump the Chumps” and ask questions of long-time course leaders and a Farmers Market Exchange, a series of interactive, short sessions to learn about emerging issues and challenges in the agribusiness industry such as biotechnology, use of drones and changes in the federal crop insurance program. 

Additional conferences will be held by IRMI in Indianapolis and Des Moines later this year.  To secure your space at one of these locations, click here.