Cattle insurance is no different than automobile or house insurance. We get it because we cannot afford the loss, in this case the death of the animal or the loss of its reproductive ability.
Many livestock insurance policies are initiated at high end purebred sales. At the fall of the gavel the animal is deemed healthy.
Producers who insure other than directly after an auction sale will have to justify the animal’s value. They might have an opinion about the value, but the insurer wants proof that they could receive close to that price at public auction.
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Policies on bulls can be restricted to death or be expanded to include death and breeding ability.
If making a claim on breeding ability, the bull must permanently be a nonbreeder because of sickness, accident or disease.
Producers who decide to buy and insure, especially at auction, should examine the animal closely. Pre-existing issues with blemish, conformation, heredity or semen will not be covered by the new policy.
Examine the bull’s breeding certificate closely before buying because insurers will not cover bulls that have failed, or in some cases barely passed, semen evaluations.
If bulls are too young for testing or are waiting for a semen evaluation, it might be possible to insure them against death.
Claims must be justified, such as by an autopsy if an animal dies. In reproductive issues, a clinical exam must be performed by a licensed veterinarian. The claims must fall into the category of sickness, accident or disease.
Some conditions could fall back to the original breeder, such as hereditary defects, the inability to breed or lack of libido in the case of bulls.
Testicular degeneration is a grey zone. Many cases are caused by injury to the testicles or concurrent disease, but others are spontaneous. Each cause may have a different outcome as far as the insurance company is concerned.
Always advise insurance companies of health or injury issues that happen during the policy period.
A semen evaluation should be performed on breeding bulls before the policy expires to detect problems that may have cropped up.
Many misunderstandings occur regarding bull fertility. The veterinarian and insurance company might be looking for different things.
For example, a veterinarian might fail a bull with one functioning testicle if the other is degenerated or injured, even though semen motility, morphology and density are good.
In the insurance company’s eyes, however, the bull can still sire calves so it would not pay out the claim.
Expectations are probably too high on yearling bulls. Fifteen to 20 cows are plenty for them. Weight loss and potential injury are much higher if they are exposed to cows in too large a pasture with too much competition.
Insurance companies also have to watch the producer’s due diligence. A claim could be rejected if an insured animal had an ailment that was ignored, especially if treatment could have been successful. An example is a lame cow with foot rot that was ignored and became septic arthritis.
Surgery could be done in this example, which is where it becomes important to notify the company when issues first happen.
Vaccination history is also noted. It is a shame when highly valued animals have not been vaccinated and then die needlessly of an easily preventable disease.
Commingling bulls can lead to problems so leave as much space as possible when reintroducing them.
Insurance policies can have various clauses, such as for loss of use during the breeding season. That means if a bull goes down with a cut penis and misses the breeding season, the payout would be a percentage of the cost of the bull.
Farm policies can insure commercial cattle for acts of God such as drowning or being struck by lightning. Producers can usually set a high deductible to keep the premium lower.
As with any business dealings, producers should keep the lines of communications open with their insurer and report or have their veterinarian report all sickness or treatments that are done on an insured animal.
The company is apt to be more co-operative if it knows producers have been unsuccessfully trying to treat a condition rather than finding out two days before the policy has expired.
Never ship or destroy an insured animal without the insurance company’s permission unless a veterinarian does it for humane reasons.
Identification should include the verified tattoo as well as ear tags and other forms of ID such as colour or brands.
Insurance companies will pay rock solid claims, but premiums would rise if they started paying unnecessary claims.
Basic death and breeding premiums are now around 10 percent of the value of the animal plus a 10 percent deductible because claims are high.
Most of my clients insure animals the first year they own them, which is when breeding injuries and sickness occur. The odds drop as the animal matures.
