Farm Bureau Financial Services business insurance

Overview

Farm Bureau Financial Services (FBFS) is the brand of the Iowa-based Farm Bureau insurance companies, and farm insurance is what it does best. Its NAIC group, filed as the Iowa Farm Bureau group, ranked No. 75 among U.S. business insurers by 2025 commercial lines direct premiums written, with $1.03 billion, based on NAIC market share data. It was the largest farmowners insurer in the country in 2025, with $727.9 million of farmowners premium. Its other big commercial lines are commercial multiple peril, the package line ($154.0 million), commercial auto ($96.5 million) and workers' compensation ($49.0 million). Business lines are a bit over a third of its $2.80 billion all-lines total.

Two property and casualty insurers do the underwriting: Farm Bureau Property & Casualty Insurance Company (FBPCIC) and its subsidiary Western Agricultural Insurance Company, both of West Des Moines, Iowa. Farm Bureau Mutual Holding Company, owned by policyholders, sits above them. FBL Financial Group, which also owns Farm Bureau Life Insurance Company, manages both P&C companies for a fee. The Iowa Farm Bureau Federation is FBL's majority owner, and presidents of the state Farm Bureau federations sit on the holding company's board. Sales go through exclusive Farm Bureau agents, who call their customers "client/members." Ron Mead is chief executive officer.

This is not every "Farm Bureau" insurer. Farm Bureau companies in other states, such as COUNTRY Financial in Illinois, are separate businesses. FBFS writes property and casualty coverage in eight states only: Arizona, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota and Utah. Its life companies sell in more states.

History

• 1939: The Iowa Farm Bureau founded the company in Des Moines as Iowa Farm Mutual Insurance Company to meet farmers' insurance needs. It later became Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company and added auto, home and property lines. A life company followed in 1945.
• 2010: Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company was reorganized under a mutual holding company and renamed Farm Bureau Property & Casualty Insurance Company.
• 2021: On May 25, FBPCIC completed a take-private of FBL Financial Group, paying $61.00 a share in cash for the stock it and the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation did not already own. FBL's shares left the New York Stock Exchange the next day, and the federation remained FBL's majority owner. At the time, the P&C companies served more than 360,000 client/members through more than 900 exclusive agents and agency managers.
• 2022–2024: Inflation, severe weather and unfavorable reserve development hurt results. In August 2024 AM Best lowered the group's issuer credit rating and moved its outlook to negative.
• 2025: Rate increases, stricter insurance-to-value and deductible changes, plus a light storm year, brought the group back to profit. Accounts in force fell 7% as a result, and the company says it plans no significant rate actions for 2026.

Business insurance products

Farm and ranch. This is the core of the commercial book. The farm policy covers buildings, machinery, livestock, grain and farm personal property, on a scheduled or blanket basis. Features worth knowing:

• replacement cost coverage on farm machinery up to eight years old, and on irrigation equipment regardless of age;
• equipment breakdown, peak season limits for harvest, hay coverage with variable stack limits, and agricultural earnings and extra expense;
• livestock coverage for freezing or smothering in blizzards, and suffocation of cattle, swine and poultry in confinement;
• farm liability with agritourism (hayrides, hunting, you-pick), equine operations with care and custody of others' horses, farm pollution liability for manure and fuel releases (when all farm property and liability is written with the company), employers liability and comp for farm workers;
• farm vehicle coverage for trucks, trailers, ATVs and farm truck-tractors;
• federal multi-peril crop insurance, crop-hail, pasture, rangeland and forage, and livestock revenue products sold through its agents.

AgMax is a commercial agriculture policy for operations that sell off the farm: producers at farmers markets, on-farm dairies and meat direct-marketers, on-farm retail stores and agritourism businesses.

Main Street business. BusinessMax is a package policy, similar to a business owner's policy, with business property, liability (defense costs paid in addition to limits) and business vehicle coverage. Data breach coverage, a business umbrella, workers' compensation and employment practices liability are available. A home-based business policy adds liability, business property and hired and non-owned auto coverage; see home-based business insurance: why a homeowners policy falls short. FBFS agents also offer employee benefits and business succession planning.

Who it insures

The best fit is a farm or ranch in its eight states, from hobby farms to large corporate operations, and the businesses around it. On the main street side, FBFS names contractors, apartment owners, auto service and repair shops, and Restaurant insurance and food trucks as common markets. Its site describes no large-account, specialty or multistate commercial programs. A business with locations or fleets outside its eight states will need another carrier for them.

Ag underwriters and specialists visit farms with the agent before quoting. Every year after that, agents run an on-site review the company calls SuperCheck, which re-values buildings, livestock and machinery. Farm customers can earn an Ag Advantage discount for writing the farm policy and Ag + Rewards discounts for adding auto and umbrella.

How to buy

Through an exclusive Farm Bureau agent. FBFS agents are captive agents who sell only Farm Bureau products, so you cannot get an FBFS quote from an independent agency to compare side by side with other carriers. The website's quote request form goes to a local agent. Agents who complete the company's AgWise training handle farm accounts.

After purchase, the online account and mobile app handle bills, insurance cards and claim status. The loss control department offers free on-site risk evaluations for business customers and a library of sample safety policies, checklists and return-to-work tools.

Claims

Property and auto claims can be reported 24 hours a day at 800-226-6383, online or through your agent. Workers' compensation claims have their own line, 800-843-9413, weekdays 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Central. An adjuster calls after a claim is reported. The company says claims close within 10 days of being reported on average, a figure that will not hold for a large farm fire or a disputed liability claim. Its catastrophe claims team grew to more than 50 people by 2025, and ag claims staff handle farm losses.

Financial strength and ratings

In September 2026 AM Best affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) and Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings of "a" for Farm Bureau Property & Casualty Insurance Company and Western Agricultural Insurance Company. It moved the outlook to stable from negative. AM Best called the balance sheet strongest, operating performance adequate and the business profile neutral. It said the combined ratio was in the "sub-80s" through 2025 and the first half of 2026, after 2022 and 2023 were hurt by inflation, weather losses and reserve development. AM Best named concentration in eight primary states, with exposure to severe and frequent weather, as the main risk. In August 2024 AM Best had lowered the issuer credit rating to "a" from "a+" and set a negative outlook.

The 2025 annual report shows net income of $568 million, fire and casualty direct written premium up 7.7% to a record $2.6 billion, an underwriting gain of $543.5 million and policyholder surplus up $644 million to $2.10 billion. Client/member retention dipped to 86.1%. The company says it has held an AM Best rating of A or higher for more than 75 years. No S&P, Moody's or Fitch ratings are published.

Strengths and weaknesses

FBFS is the country's largest farmowners insurer and knows farm risk better than most generalists. It is a small-business market only inside eight states, sold only through its own agents, and its 2025 results came after several years of large rate increases.

• Strengths: No. 1 in U.S. farmowners premium, with ag underwriters, annual on-site reviews and farm-specific coverage such as replacement cost on machinery up to eight years old. One agent can write the farm, crop insurance, vehicles, home and life. AM Best rates capital strongest, and the outlook returned to stable in September 2026. Claims reportable around the clock by phone or online.
• Weaknesses: Property and casualty coverage only in eight states. Exclusive agents, so no side-by-side quotes through an independent agency. Weather losses and reserve development drove losses in 2022 and 2023, and the rate and coverage changes that fixed them cost the company 7% of its accounts in 2025. Little appetite beyond farm, Main Street and small commercial risks.

How to contact Farm Bureau Financial Services