"Our farmers braved fires, then fought for coverage"

CEO Ryan Klobas

California Farm Bureau’s Ag Alert Weekly Newspaper
February 23, 2022

“Our farmers braved fires, then fought for coverage”
Ryan Klobas, CEO, Napa County Farm Bureau

The mission of the Napa County Farm Bureau, as with any county Farm Bureau in California, is to advocate on behalf of its members to ensure the proper political, social, and economic climate for the continuation of a strong, viable and sustainable agricultural economy.

Nowhere has this been more evident lately than in the advocacy for wildfire insurance coverage for Farm Bureau members, who were hit by recent wildfires and found themselves unable to obtain proper insurance coverage for their operations.

In Napa County, we have seen countless members with wineries or vineyards who were denied coverage to protect their businesses. During a townhall event with California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, the commissioner heard from Farm Bureau members in Napa County who needed help after insurers backed away or raised premiums after wildfires.

A number of members expressed concern over their insurance costs tripling or quadrupling for a fraction of the coverage they used to have. This financial impact placed a burden on agricultural operations in our county, causing our members to look for help.

As we continued to work on this issue with the California Farm Bureau, we also worked with members to champion the effort to address this issue with the California FAIR Plan, with the state's insurer of last resort serving as a starting place to make some coverage available as we continued efforts to address competition in the private marketplace.

Last year, our starting place was through Senate Bill 11, which stood to authorize farms to access the FAIR Plan for basic property coverage and to provide a necessary property insurance backstop for Napa County's agricultural infrastructure.

Before its passage with our support, farming and ranching operations did not even have access to basic property insurance provided by the FAIR Plan, leaving commercial agricultural infrastructure, wineries, farming equipment and other components unprotected.

We worked tirelessly in connecting with our members as the legislation was drafted to ensure their needs and concerns were being addressed. We worked to educate our membership, and the community as a whole, about the importance of Senate Bill 11 and the positive impact that it could have on members unable to obtain wildfire insurance.

We worked constantly with Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, who was a tremendous help in working with the Insurance Commissioner's Office to address the concerns of our members in Napa County. It was key throughout this process that the legislation reflected the specific needs of agricultural operations, given how nuanced those needs are.

Senate Bill 11 was passed in the Legislature and, in a mere 144 days from its introduction, it was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom. It was a feat that truly demonstrated the power of the Farm Bureau, both the California Farm Bureau and our many county Farm Bureaus, in advocating for the needs of our members.

Subsequent to passage, the Napa County Farm Bureau held a number of press interviews and educational meetings with members and the community at large on the benefits of this newly passed legislation and how members could now access wildfire insurance coverage through the California FAIR plan.

This public policy issue was a great example of why the Farm Bureau exists and how effective it is for its members on a county and statewide level. This effort demonstrated how dues Farm Bureau members pay went into hundreds of hours of advocacy and, ultimately, achieved victory with passage of legislation, which now delivers direct benefits to members and their communities.

I couldn't have been prouder to be a part of this effort and to advocate for so many Farm Bureau members and see that we achieved enduring results. It demonstrated the strength of the Farm Bureau—and why we have advocated on behalf of agriculture since 1913.

Ryan Klobas
Chief Executive Officer
Napa County Farm Bureau

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