Trimble Partners with Great American Insurance Group to Automate Crop Reporting

 
Automated Reporting System Designed to Save Time for Farmers, Agents and USDA

LOVELAND, Colo., Jan. 17, 2012—Trimble (NASDAQ: TRMB) announced today a strategic alliance with Great American Insurance Group to help farmers automate their crop insurance reporting under the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Federal Crop Insurance Program. The new recordkeeping system makes it possible for Farm Works™ users to submit their crop insurance records electronically to Great American Insurance Group. The time-saving solution makes it simple for farmers to transfer planting and harvest data directly to the Great American Insurance Group systems from their Farm Works Mapping software.

The announcement was made today at the Trimble Agriculture Reseller Conference.

"Aligning with Trimble provides great value to our crop insurance customers and serves to distinguish us in the marketplace," said Tim Copeland, divisional vice president of Marketing at Great American Insurance Group, Crop Insurance Division. "It will also increase awareness among farmers about how precision agriculture tools can help improve accuracy and efficiency in crop insurance reporting."

In 2011 the USDA Federal Crop Insurance Program, administered by the Risk Management Agency (RMA), began accepting precision agricultural data which meets the specific requirements listed in RMA's Crop Insurance Handbook and/or Loss adjustment Manual. The new reporting system will help farmers more quickly, easily and accurately meet USDA requirements related to acreage, planting and harvest. Geo-referenced data may be collected from the tractor or combine cab with a compatible precision farming display such as the Trimble® FmX® integrated display or CFX-750™ touch screen.

"Farmers increasingly list data management and recordkeeping among their top management concerns," said Erik Arvesen, vice president and general manager for Trimble's Agriculture Division. "As the USDA now allows precision agriculture-based recordkeeping and begins standardizing its recordkeeping requirements, we are very pleased to be among the first to provide a comprehensive crop insurance data solution to Great American Insurance and Trimble customers."

About Great American Insurance Group
 
Great American Insurance Group's roots go back to 1872 with the founding of its flagship company, Great American Insurance Company. Based in Cincinnati, Ohio, the operations of Great American Insurance Group are engaged primarily in property and casualty insurance, focusing on specialty commercial products for businesses, and in the sale of traditional fixed and indexed annuities and a variety of supplemental insurance products such as Medicare supplement. Great American Insurance Company has received an "A" (Excellent) or higher rating from the A.M. Best Company for over 100 years (most recent rating evaluation effective February 14, 2011). The members of the Great American Insurance Group are subsidiaries of American Financial Group, Inc. (AFG), also based in Cincinnati, Ohio. AFG's common stock is listed and traded on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol AFG.

About Trimble's Agriculture Division

Trimble's Agriculture Division is a leader in precision agriculture and guidance, operating globally with resellers throughout the world. Trimble's Connected Farm™ solutions help customers operate farm vehicles and implements more efficiently, save on input costs, and can increase yield and productivity. Solutions include vehicle and implement guidance and steering; application control for seed, liquid, and granular products; laser- and GPS-based water management technology; record keeping and seamless field-to-office information management.

For more information, visit:  www.trimble.com/agriculture.

About Trimble

Trimble applies technology to make field and mobile workers in businesses and government significantly more productive. Solutions are focused on applications requiring position or location--including surveying, construction, agriculture, fleet and asset management, public safety and mapping. In addition to utilizing positioning technologies, such as GPS, lasers and optics, Trimble solutions may include software content specific to the needs of the user. Wireless technologies are utilized to deliver the solution to the user and to ensure a tight coupling of the field and the back office. Founded in 1978, Trimble is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif.