A view from the top

Jan. 23--Using drones, crop insurers can now gauge damage to crops in a short few hours, a task which once could take nearly a full day on large fields.

Companies like Country Financial and Diversified Crop Insurance Services can use drones to accurately gauge the damage from such things as wind storms or cattle wandering into a neighboring field.

Todd Manning, the crop insurance coordinator at Country Financial said what was once an experiment for crop insurers has turned into an extremely useful tool.

"In February of 2015. my manager thought we should try to explore how a drone could be useful in crop adjusting," Manning said. "We got a pilot program together and the company surveyed who had pilots licenses at the time. Initially, when we started this you had to be a [Federal Aviation Administration]-certified pilot to fly drones commercially."

Country Financial's leap into the program proved to be beneficial and when the FAA relaxed regulations in 2016, dropping the pilot requirement in place of a special drone class, the company was able to take on more drone pilots and invest in larger units.

"What we found was that it worked out pretty good for crop scouting on wind claims, cattle claims and Green Snap claims," Manning said. "Where it's been most useful is wind damage. This past year, I was down in the Jerseyville area and there was extensive wind damage. Now, if you've got a fairly sized acreage and you look as you're driving along the road, the first four or five rows may look undamaged. When you get up in the air you can see exactly where the damage is."

Drones are available to adjuster by request. Manning said that in the short time that the program has been available at Country Financial he has received a lot of positive feedback.

Whereas before adjusters had to walk the length of the field to survey the damage, drones can take multiple shots in a matter of seconds. Before, walking in a field with six to seven-foot tall corn, it could be difficult to determine the exact scope of the damage.

With drones, there is no question.

"In a cattle claim, a dozen cattle could get out in a field and the insured's cattle damages a neighbor's field," Manning said. "It can be quite contentious sometimes unless you walk the entire field and that may take a while. Get a drone out there with a third party standing right there with you and he can see the image come up on an iPad and you can settle it real quick. It may only take 10 minutes."

Nick Draper can be reached at 217-245-6121, ext. 1223, or on Twitter @nick_draper.

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