RCIS Head focuses on building resilience for farmers

Dalynn Hoch, Head of Rural Community Insurance Services (RCIS) focused on business resilience this fall, during a keynote address to attendees of the 2024 Ag Outlook Forum hosted by the Kansas City Ag Business Council and Agri-Pulse Communications, Inc. RCIS is the crop insurance business of Zurich North America.

Speaking to the prestigious group of Ag economic, policy, business and government officials from across the country, Hoch acknowledged those in the agriculture industry have continuously faced new and evolving risks and increased complexity. “The future,” she said, “will depend on how we address current challenges and build resilience through the opportunities in front of us.”

Hoch shared thoughts on the increase in frequency and severity of weather events as a reality that farmers and producers live with in real time across the United States every day. She also spoke of the market challenges including commodity prices and high input costs putting stress on family farm income, as well as the consequences of an aging workforce with fewer young people entering the agriculture industry.

While outlining these challenges, Hoch made it clear there are opportunities ahead that can help build resilience into the fabric of who we are in the American agriculture industry and community. She outlined opportunities that come from new products and services related to crop insurance; exciting innovative technology to improve data and outcomes and to streamline the crop insurance process for farmers and agents; and the promise of a new Farm Bill.

And she stressed the opportunities created by crop insurance. “Crop insurance enables the flow of capital and builds in resilience to the system,” she said. “It supports the operating loans with banks and input providers that are needed by most farmers every year.”

“I see the Federal Crop Insurance Program as a triangle – the Approved Crop Insurance Provider (AIP), the agent and the government. And in the middle, where they should be, is the farmer, rancher and producer with the promise of protection when it matters the most. All three of us are key players in finding the right balance to support the farmer and to keep our capital sustainably invested for our policyholders. It is one of the reasons I am so proud of the work we do.”

Watch her full address here where she also shares fond memories growing up on the farm in Minnesota, the lessons learned from hard work and the struggles her family faced similar to those of so many farm families today.

In February 2024, Dalynn Hoch became Head of Rural Community Insurance Services (RCIS), the crop insurance business of Zurich North America. She is responsible for the growth, profitability and strategic direction for the business and for ensuring strong relationships with key stakeholders in the agriculture industry, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Crop Insurance Services (NCIS), crop agents and the U.S. Congress. Hoch works closely with Zurich North America’s Government and Regulatory Relations team in Washington, D.C. on regulatory and legislative issues related to the federally funded crop insurance program.

She was raised on a Minnesota farm, near where her husband and brother are currently farming together fulltime.