How to Insure Your Hobby Farm
No matter how small your hobby farm is, it needs the right protection for its buildings, equipment, livestock, operations, and more.
Written by
Christine Lacagnina has written thousands of insurance-based articles for TrustedChoice.com by authoring consumable, understandable content.
Reviewed by
Cara Carlone is a licensed P&C agent with 20 years of experience. She has her P&C license in RI and TX and holds CPCU, API, and AINS designations.
When it comes to your hobby farm, insurance should be at the top of your list of priorities. Insuring your farm is critical to protect yourself and your investment, and making sure it's done right can save you a lot in the long run. Luckily, hobby farm insurance can help protect you against losses due to many perils that may affect your farm, including fire damage and more.
A local independent insurance agent can help you find the ideal hobby farm insurance policy for your unique operation. They'll help you shop and compare insurance for a hobby farm from multiple carriers to find the right fit. But first, here's a guide to insuring a hobby farm and why it's important.
Do I Need Insurance for My Hobby Farm?
When you run a small farm, you might not be sure if it actually needs insurance. In fact, many aspects of your hobby farm need coverage against various potential disasters, ranging from theft and vandalism to fire and hail damage. Without the right small farm insurance, you could be stuck paying out of pocket for these losses.
A hobby farm insurance policy is built to protect all facets of your operation. This includes your crops, livestock, buildings, equipment, and more. An independent insurance agent can help you get set up with all the hobby farm insurance you need to protect your unique farm.
How to Insure Your Hobby Farm
Your farm is not only a source of enjoyment and income, but it's likely also a home to you and your family. That's why it's critical to not only protect your farm's operations, but also your home and personal property. Specialized hobby farm homeowners insurance can help you get the reimbursement you need if a disaster damages or destroys your home or its contents.
First, you'll want to have your independent insurance agent determine which coverages are necessary for your hobby farm's specifications. So whether you have a small hobby farm or your land is just shy of several miles, you can get enough coverage with the right assistance. Your independent insurance agent will need to know the following to get started:
- Your hobby farm's specifics: This includes information about any products you sell, livestock you own, your annual revenue, equipment and machinery used, and more.
- The value of your hobby farm's property: This includes the replacement cost value of each piece of equipment, building, livestock, and crop if they had to be replaced after a total loss.
- Any security measures in place: This includes security cameras, burglar alarms, and more that may deter crime from occurring on your hobby farm. Having security features on your hobby farm may also reduce your insurance premiums in the form of a discount.
Having all this information ready to go will help your independent insurance agent find you the ideal hobby farm insurance policy.
What Does Hobby Farm Insurance Cover?
You may be wondering, "What kind of insurance do you need for a hobby farm?" Even small-acreage farm insurance must include several types of coverage to fully protect your property, animals, revenue, and more.
Liability insurance for a hobby farm
Liability coverage is crucial for protecting you against the costs of third-party lawsuits. Since you sell products to the public and likely let them on your property, you'll need different types of liability protection, such as product liability and premises liability insurance.
You'll also need general liability insurance to reimburse you for expenses related to third-party claims of bodily injury or personal property damage caused at or by your hobby farm in some way.
Agritourism liability insurance may be necessary if you operate a farmer's market or have a roadside stand. You can also ask your independent insurance agent about farm stand insurance.
Rural property insurance for a hobby farm
You know that a normal home insurance policy likely won't protect your hobby farm. Rural property insurance is a special type of homeowners policy intended to protect properties that aren't close to a fire station or fire hydrant. It can protect your primary residence on your farm from many different threats, including fire and vandalism.
Crop insurance for a hobby farm
Your crops are a critical component of your hobby farm. This coverage can reimburse you for covered disasters that impact your crops. You may want to consider the following types of crop insurance:
- Crop hail insurance: This covers your crops against damage and destruction from fire and hail.
- Crop revenue insurance: This can reimburse farmers during seasons in which their crops have a low yield or the price of their crops is low. Because this coverage helps protect farmers' earnings from crops, it's also sometimes referred to as crop failure insurance.
- Multi-peril crop insurance (MPCI): This covers your crops against many different perils, including hail, frost, wind, disease, drought, fire, flooding, and insect damage. You may also hear this coverage referred to as weather-related crop insurance.
Livestock insurance for a hobby farm
Your livestock is another treasured aspect of your hobby farm. This coverage is critical, as it can reimburse you for the death of your livestock caused by many different perils, including fire, lightning, floods, loading and unloading accidents, electrocution, attacks by other animals, accidental shootings, and earthquakes.
You'll also likely need to consider farm animal liability insurance, which can reimburse you for the cost of third-party lawsuits claiming bodily injury or personal property damage due to your livestock.
Outbuilding insurance for a hobby farm
Hobby farms often have several types of outbuildings, all of which need protection against vandalism and more. Your hobby farm also likely utilizes a lot of different types of equipment in its daily operations.
As such, you'll want to protect it all against various types of weather damage and other threats. You can choose from the following types of coverage for your hobby farm:
- Barn insurance: This protects barns on your farm against many different perils, including lightning, vandalism, and more.
- Silo insurance: This protects silos on your farm against losses due to vandalism, fire damage, and many other perils.
- Irrigation equipment insurance: This can reimburse farmers for losses related to irrigation equipment, including sprinklers and misters, caused by vandalism, theft, fire damage, etc.
- Farm equipment insurance: This protects your farm equipment and property from many different perils, including vandalism and fire damage.
- Tractor insurance: This can reimburse farmers for losses and destruction related to their tractors, including theft and fire damage.
An independent insurance agent can help you assemble a comprehensive hobby farm insurance policy.
How Much Does Hobby Farm Insurance Cost?
So, is hobby farm insurance expensive? When comparing rates for hobby farm insurance vs commercial farm insurance, hobby farms are typically cheaper to insure.
However, the cost of coverage can depend on several factors, including:
- Acreage
- Revenue
- Location
- Claims history
- Total value of property
- Amount and type of livestock
Your independent insurance agent can help you find affordable hobby farm insurance near you.
The Best Hobby Farm Insurance Companies of 2025
Who offers hobby farm insurance? Many insurance companies sell insurance for part-time farmers, but they may not have the coverage you're looking for. Here are our top recommendations for the best hobby farm insurance carriers this year.
| Hobby Farm Insurance Company | Best For |
Overall Carrier Star Rating |
| Nationwide hobby farm insurance | Overall coverage and service |
|
| Markel hobby farm insurance | Property coverage |
|
| Travelers hobby farm insurance | Part-time RVers |
|
| Main Street America hobby farm insurance | Policy enhancements |
|
| USAA hobby farm insurance | Hobby farms and niche farming |
|
| American Family hobby farm insurance | Additional coverage options |
|
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Our independent agents shop around to find you the best coverage.
The Benefits of Working with an Independent Insurance Agent
Independent insurance agents have access to multiple hobby farm insurance companies, ultimately finding you the best coverage, accessibility, and competitive pricing while working for you. They can help you shop and compare hobby farm insurance quotes from several carriers.
And as your hobby farm grows and your needs change, they'll be there to help you adjust your coverage, to make sure you're properly protected without overpaying. Your agent can also help you file hobby farm insurance claims when necessary.
FAQs About Hobby Farm Insurance
Homeowners insurance won't protect the farming operations on your hobby farm. You can get a hobby farm insurance policy with a special type of homeowners insurance to protect your home and personal property, as well as your farm's business operations, livestock, and more.
Turning your hobby farm into an LLC can help protect you and your assets, as well as provide certain tax benefits. However, you'll want to consult with a professional attorney and accountant before making the decision on how to classify your small farm business.
The USDA Census considers any farm that's 179 acres or smaller or that earns $50,000 or less in gross income per year to be a small farm or hobby farm.
Yes, several types of crop insurance are available for hobby farms. You can get crop insurance that protects against multiple perils, policies that protect against revenue losses due to low yields, and other types of protection.
Yes, your farm's equipment is covered under hobby farm insurance. This includes protection for your irrigation equipment and more.
An independent insurance agent can help shop and compare policy options and quotes for hobby farm insurance from multiple carriers to find you the best rate.
https://www.ncagr.gov/divisions/small-farms/small-farms-faqs