Farm tractor insurance is designed to protect farmers and their tractors against financial loss resulting from damage to or loss of the tractor. It is essentially a form of commercial vehicle insurance that is tailored to meet the specific needs of farmers who use tractors as an essential tool for their farming activities. Tractor insurance can cover a range of risks, including:

  • Theft
  • Accidental damage
  • Drivers & passengers
  • Attachments & implements
  • Fire incidents
  • Natural disasters
  • Third-party liabilities i.e if your tractor injures someone or damages other people’s property
  • Legal expenses

Who should get tractor insurance?

Essentially, anyone who owns or operates a tractor should consider getting tractor insurance. This is because tractors are essential tools for farmers, and they can be costly to repair or replace if they are damaged, stolen, or involved in an accident.

Additionally, if your tractor injures someone or even yourself, then the insurance will come in handy.  It provides timely financial protection against these risks and helps to minimize the financial impact of any unexpected events. In short it gives you security against all manner of risks that you cannot foretell.

CDC estimates show that in 2021, workers in agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting sector experienced 20 deaths per 100,000 full-time workers. Tractor overturns and roadway crashes contributed the highest number of these deaths. Across the other industries, the average death rate was 3.6 per 100, 000 workers – way less.

With this kind of exposure, you don’t want to take a risk and this is exactly why you should take up tractor insurance.

Here is a list of the categories of people to whom tractor insurance is highly recommended in the general agriculture sector

  • Farmers who use tractors for planting, tilling, and harvesting.
  • Ranchers who use tractors for maintaining and managing their livestock and pastures.
  • Agricultural contractors who provide services such as plowing, tilling, planting, and harvesting for farmers and other agricultural workers.
  • Agricultural machinery dealers who rent, lease or sell tractors to farmers and other agricultural workers.
  • Agricultural co-operatives that own tractors for the use of their members.
  • Agricultural researchers who use tractors for conducting experiments and field trials.
  • Agricultural educators who use tractors for teaching students about farming and agricultural practices.

These are the major categories of tractors in agriculture that are worth insuring:

  • Implement carrier tractors: They are designed to carry and operate various agricultural implements, such as plows, cultivators, and harrows. They have a sturdy construction and powerful engine to handle heavy loads.
  • Orchard type tractors: Designed to work in orchards, vineyards, and other tight spaces. They are small and compact with a low profile, making them easy to maneuver between narrow rows of crops. They often have specialized attachments for pruning and harvesting.
  • Row crop tractors: Used in large fields for planting, cultivating, and harvesting row crops, such as corn, soybeans, and wheat. They have tall, narrow wheels to minimize crop damage and are equipped with attachments, such as planters and cultivators.
  • Garden tractors: Small, agile and designed for use in home gardens and small farms.
  • Lawn tractors: For cutting and maintaining lawns and other grassy areas. They are typically smaller and less powerful than garden tractors and have a range of attachments, such as baggers and aerators.
  • Antique tractors: Vintage tractors that were built before the 1960s. They are often used for display and historical purposes, as well as for light work on small farms. They have a simple design and lack modern features, such as power steering and hydraulic systems.

If you own any of these types, then you need to think about tractor insurance.

Types of tractor insurance in agriculture

What type of tractor insurance do you need? This is determined by the type of tractor you own and what you use it for, as per the different categories we just highlighted above.

Based on this criteria, you have the below options to choose from:

  • Liability Insurance: Provides coverage for damage or injury caused to third parties or their property. It can cover costs associated with legal defense, settlements, and judgments.
  • Comprehensive Insurance: Provides coverage for damage to your tractor resulting from incidents such as theft, vandalism, fire, or weather-related events like hailstorms.
  • Collision Insurance: Covers damage to your tractor resulting from collisions with other objects, such as other vehicles, trees, or buildings.
  • Personal Injury Insurance: Provides coverage for medical expenses, lost wages, and other related costs resulting from injuries sustained while operating your tractor.
  • Uninsured Motorist Insurance: Covers damage or injury caused by an uninsured or underinsured driver while operating your tractor.

You will choose either or a combination of these types depending on what risks stand out the most in your case. If, for example, your work is such that it’s always highly likely to cause harm to third parties, then the liability option is definitely advisable. If you employ uninsured drivers, you have to consider the uninsured motorist insurance option.

If you have more than one tractor, then it’s advisable that you take one cover to cater for all of them. This is better than taking separate cover for different types of tractors.

How to reduce the costs of tractor insurance

Most farmers are constantly looking for ways to save on tractor insurance expenses, as they can often go up quickly and surpass your financial ability.  Of course it’s impossible to bring the cost  down in a drastic way, but these tips will earn you reasonable savings:

  • Choose a higher deductible: A deductible is the amount you pay out of pocket before your insurance coverage kicks in. Choosing a higher deductible can reduce your premium payments. However, make sure you choose a deductible that you can afford to pay when you need to make a claim.
  • Take advantage of discounts: Many insurance companies offer discounts for farmers and ranchers who take safety courses, have multiple policies, or install safety features such as anti-theft devices or GPS trackers on their tractors. Make sure you ask your insurer about any available discounts.
  • Maintain a good driving record: Your driving record can affect your tractor insurance premiums. If you employ a driver (s), make sure they have advanced training as this can give you leverage to bargain better rates.
  • Maintain your tractor: Regular maintenance and inspections can prevent accidents and damage to your tractor. Insurance companies may offer discounts for well-maintained tractors.
  • Don’t overclaim: Insurance companies base their rates on historical claims. The more the claims, the more the premium. So you want to make sure that you are not always claiming for every little occurrence. Only claim when it’s completely unavoidable i.e when the incident is huge and way beyond your routine management.
  • Tractor features: The more features your tractor has, the more the insurance companies will charge. A tractor with satellite controls, for example, will attract more premium than one without. So you don’t want to keep features that you’ll never need.

Best companies for tractor insurance

Some of the well-known insurance companies that offer tractor insurance include:

  • Nationwide
  • Farmers’ Insurance
  • State Farm
  • Allstate
  • American Family Insurance

In addition, some tractor manufacturers also offer their own insurance options. These include:

  • John Deere, which offers John Deere Insurance for tractors
  • Mahindra, which offers Mahindra tractor insurance
  • Kubota Tractor Corporation, which offers Kubota Insurance for tractors

You may also want to consider working with an independent insurance agent who can help you compare policies from multiple insurance providers and find the best coverage for your needs.

Tractor insurance vs trailer insurance 

Tractor insurance provides, which is what we have been covering in this guide, covers the tractor unit itself – the vehicle that pulls the trailer. Trailer insurance, on the other hand, provides coverage for the trailer being pulled by the tractor. This coverage can include protection for the trailer itself, as well as liability for any damage caused by the trailer to other vehicles or property.

Tractor Insurance FAQs

What kind of insurance do you get on a tractor?

Tractor insurance can cover liability, collision, comprehensive, uninsured/underinsured motorist, and personal injury protection. Liability covers damage to others’ property or injury to others, collision covers damages from collisions, comprehensive covers non-collision events, uninsured/underinsured motorist covers accidents with insufficiently insured drivers, and personal injury protection covers medical and lost wage benefits.

How much does tractor insurance cost?

The average cost of farm tractor insurance is $750 – $1000 per month  for a coverage of up to $1 million. Of course this cost can go up or down depending on the type of insurance and company that you chose to work with.

Is tractor insurance mandatory in the US?

Tractor insurance is not legally mandatory if you confine the tractor use to your own property.  However, the law requires that tractor owners carry liability insurance to operate their tractors on public roads or highways. Another scenario that requires you to take insurance is when you are acquiring the tractor through institutional financing  such as bank loans, until you finish repaying  Other states, such as Indiana and Ohio, have laws that require farmers to have liability insurance if they transport hazardous materials on public roads.

To be sure, please check with your state’s Department of Motor Vehicles or Agriculture to find out the requirements for tractor insurance. Additionally, even if tractor insurance is not required by law, it is still highly advisable to protect yourself financially in the event of an accident or other unforeseen event.

How to find the right tractor insurance near me

You can find a tractor insurance company near you by first looking at the best insurance companies or agents that cover tractors. Next, look up their ratings and reviews on websites such as the Better Business Bureau and Google reviews. Then make a short list of those with the best reviews and contact them one by one to get the real feel of their products.

Most of the major insurance companies have a presence in most states either by themselves or through agents. For example, John Deere has a wide presence in the US and you can easily find a John Deere dealer near you with the global dealer locator tool. Here is a list of all the John Deere locations in the US and worldwide.