National wholesale brokerage Brown & Riding has launched a new national agribusiness practice, creating a specialized practice group focused on placement solutions across the entire food and agricultural supply chain.
The new division is headed by industry veteran David Chipp (pictured), a principal and senior vice president at the firm, alongside a dedicated team of line-of-business specialists.
The practice was established to help retail brokers navigate an increasingly volatile combination of operational exposures facing agricultural clients, ranging from severe weather events and machinery breakdowns to product recalls, supply chain disruptions, and cyber threats.
The establishment of a dedicated agribusiness unit comes at a critical juncture for the commercial agricultural insurance market. Property and casualty underwriting conditions for agricultural risks have tightened significantly over recent years, driven by widespread loss activity across the country.
Commercial property carriers have scrutinised capacity for fixed agricultural assets, such as grain processing mills, packing facilities, and cold storage operations, following consecutive seasons of heavy severe convective storm losses and persistent inflation in replacement costs.
At the same time, casualty lines are confronting elevated risks tied to complex food safety protocols, product contamination, and logistics liabilities. As traditional admitted carriers restrict their appetite or increase retentions for high-hazard agricultural exposures, retail agents are increasingly turning to specialized excess and surplus (E&S) channels to build comprehensive, tailored programs for commercial insureds.
Rather than offering off-the-shelf coverage packages, the practice focuses on delivering customized solutions designed for specialized risks across the broader food and agricultural spectrum. Chipp emphasized that agricultural operations face a unique blend of day-to-day operational risks alongside macro-level external threats.
"Agribusiness insureds face a range of operational risks, from equipment breakdowns to lapses in safety protocols," Chipp said. "They also contend with unpredictable exposures, including the impacts from severe weather, recall-triggering events, supply chain disruptions, and cyber threats. The right coverage is essential to protect clients’ operations, maintain continuity, and keep businesses moving forward."
The division underwrites a broad selection of commercial operations. Eligible risks encompass core production and processing facilities, including dairies, nut growers, seed and grain processing mills, and poultry or meat producers. The practice also targets supporting infrastructure and logistics, covering packing and storage facilities, ground and aerial chemical applicators, and specialized transit for agricultural products. Additionally, the unit accepts risks involving agricultural machinery manufacturing, distribution, and rental, as well as multi-purpose premises with public liability exposures, such as agritourism or on-site liquor operations.
To address these multifaceted exposures, the specialized unit leverages cross-product line alignment, providing structured solutions across property, stock throughput, casualty, inland marine, environmental liability, product recall, and management liability.
Chipp pointed out that the strategic goal of the new unit is to deliver end-to-end risk management solutions regardless of the size or scope of the enterprise.
"We are a strategically aligned wholesale brokerage addressing the full spectrum of agribusiness risk, from the farm gate to the consumer’s table," Chipp added. "Whether your client operates a small family farm, a large-scale processing facility, or a multinational distribution network, our specialists have the product knowledge, carrier relationships, and industry insight to deliver tailored coverage solutions that truly protect what matters most."
The launch aligns with broader strategic developments across the wholesale sector, where brokers are expanding dedicated practice groups to provide retail agents with deep technical expertise and direct market access for complex, hard-to-place commercial lines.
