Many eggs, many baskets for Farmers Union

“Don’t put all your eggs in one basket” is advice that Farmers Union Insurance in North Dakota is heeding. That’s according to Kevin Ressler, chief sales, marketing, and brand officer at the company, where he’s worked in various capacities for 36 years.

“Farmers Union was a captive agency where our agents only had access to our mutual company in North Dakota and a national insurance company based in Denver, Colo.,” Ressler said. “Then about 20 years ago we gave our agents access to a handful of outside carriers. Since that time, we’ve grown that model, so our agents have access to numerous national and regional carriers.

“We’re able to offer a full range of products. We’ve really become a multifaceted agency and network — much different than the model we had 20 years ago.”

Farmers Union operates now as a general agency in North Dakota and Arkansas with over 120 agents at a number of locations. It also manages the South Dakota Farmers Union Insurance general agency, which has 35 agents, and an independent agency network called Insural Insurance Solutions with 400 independent network members in 14 states.

Even that expansive description of the scope of Farmers Union’s business doesn’t convey the company’s true scale. As a wholly owned subsidiary of the North Dakota Farmers Union (NDFU), it is an integral part of a business network that includes travel services; camping programs, award trips and educational opportunities for youth; farm cooperatives; and lobbying activities.

Further afield, in partnership with the Farmers Restaurant Group, headquartered in Washington, D.C., the NDFU operates a string of restaurants called “Founding Farmers.” In addition to providing farm-to-table fare in seven locations, the restaurants are dedicated to promoting a wider understanding of family farm agriculture and rural America.

“I think necessity has driven us in this direction,” said Ressler. “We’ve been willing to drive our growth by looking at different ways of doing business. The marketplace has changed, and to be successful you have to be open-minded and look for opportunities. We have a tremendous board and leadership team that backs us in challenging the status quo, and this has allowed us to explore opportunities instead of focusing on challenges.”

Ressler says Grinnell Mutual has been an important part of his company’s current and ongoing growth.

“Grinnell Mutual’s executive team and sales team have really engaged with us, listening to our concerns and needs while discussing long term opportunities. They participate in our events; they spend time with our agents; their underwriters are willing to listen; they have a centralized placement team and a team of field underwriters they send out when placing complicated risks. Because of this I feel sure our relationship will continue to grow.”

9/2024