His Story

Max Hensley has been farming for over 40 years, and operates 675 acres of corn and soybeans with his wife and the help of their son.  For Max, farming gives him the opportunity to spend time outside, work with equipment, and, most importantly, be his own boss and control his own operation. 

Over the years, Max has seen many changes, but his key challenge remains the same:  input costs.  It seems to Max that “every time prices go up for a product, input costs go up as well.” Rising cash outlays continue to increase the potential financial impact to his operation if something that he cannot control, like weather, damages his crops.

Max does not go into the season expecting weather to be a problem.   “I am pretty fortunate. I haven’t had too much trouble with too much rain or not enough rain.  The ground and the soil moisture are pretty good.” But he also knows he can’t count on the weather, so he takes a look at all tools available to help protect the increasingly large investment he makes at the beginning of every season. 

When Max’s federal crop insurance agent brought The Climate Corporation’s Total Weather Insurance (TWI) program to his attention, he decided to give it a try as another way to manage his risk. With his agent’s help, Max customized a plan with the coverage level that was right for him.

And he’s very glad he had a TWI policy this year because “this year was different. The first of April was pretty good, but then it started raining and it didn’t stop.  We were a month to six weeks late getting everything planted.” While Max was glad that the policy “worked out really well” and compensated him for his losses due to early season rain, he’s also clear that he “didn’t buy the insurance to collect on it, but it’s there if you need it.”

Max says that “TWI is well worth the money.  For the amount of cash we put in a crop, it’s pretty nice to have something to fall back on in case you’re in a situation like we had this year.”