We are excited to announce the 2025 conference is scheduled for March 10-11 in Altoona, IA (outside Des Moines). We are reaching out to companies and individuals for potential speakers and are framing the agenda. Doug is working on the website to launch registration earlier than ever, and we are shooting for a launch date no later than 28 August. Please watch your emails and the website for updates and announcements.

The ACA welcomes HMI as the newest bronze sponsor. Doug Malawsky, HMI's COO, presented on "Hydroponic Greenhouse Property Losses" at the 2024 conference and has agreed to present again at our next conference on "Assessing Vineyard Damage." HMI provides a host of services to adjusters, and the industry alike, on matters associated with agricultural claims. Welcome, and we appreciate your support!

On 4 June, we conducted our first live, field training event in Ames, Iowa. Eleven participants from six different companies joined us in a breakout room at the Gateway Hotel and Conference Center of Iowa State University for grain bin presentations by Chris Wortman from Nohr Wortman Engineering and Michael McDowell of Global Bin Builders. After covering the equipment and components associated with grain bins, grain bin damage, estimation, underwriting, and subrogation, we were off to two grain bin sites coordinated by Michael. We thank everybody for participating and especially for the time, effort, and expertise of our two ACA silver sponsors, Chris and Mike, for making this event possible and a success.

We are considering other equipment and property topics for another live field event and further training on crop liability.

There was another high number of cattle trespass (cow out) claims in 2023, with a significant number of claims that were fairly small (<$1000-$2000). We saw potential for staff adjusters at the carriers/insurers to learn and handle these types of claims from the desk by having drone footage or photographs support their desk adjustments. The one missing component for this type of claim was the lack of accurate counts to calculate the extent of the damage, so we needed a tool that could help adjusters. We used a few different applications that use Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) via satellite passages over time that quantified the damaged acres. This NDVI information, coupled with estimates of damage visible in the photos, allows adjusters to reasonably settle claims quickly and without the cost of a field inspection, saving time and money. One of the software firms we used was Bushel Farm, and we are happy to announce a partnership to help grow this endeavor. We welcome Bushel Farm as our newest bronze sponsor; welcome to the ACA!

We are developing a series of new online modules designed to help with claims and maintaining continuing education (CE) requirements. The one closest to completion is a "Cow Out" module to help with the growing number of cattle tresspassing claims. The aim of the module is that an independent or staff adjuster can handle a simple cow-out claim from assignment to settlement using crop liability basics, a few tools, and calculating the loss. Once that module is complete, we will work on a series of ethics modules to assist adjusters with CE requirements.