Building the Favorable Plan Underwriters Want to See with Palomar’s Brett Cohrs

Send us a text

What if your hen house burned tonight—would your plan hold? We sit down with Brett Cohrs, CRM and Senior Vice President at Palomar Insurance, to unpack what’s really changing in poultry insurance and how leaders can turn risk management into a competitive edge. From rate softening for large layered property programs to tighter appetites for smaller growers, Brett explains why deductibles are climbing, which choices actually move premiums, and how to prepare your balance sheet for higher retention without jeopardizing growth.

We get specific about fire risk in modern barns. Annual infrared scanning, true 100‑foot separation, and two‑hour fire doors in corridors and processing areas now sit at the center of underwriting scrutiny. Cage‑free has multiplied exposure: bigger single‑site values, more motors and controls, and dust acting as fine fuel. We talk through why control systems built to protect birds can unintentionally feed a blaze, and how purpose‑built barn technology can detect abnormal heat, trigger early response, and keep a local incident from becoming a total loss.

Beyond property, Brett maps the risk terrain producers often overlook: product recall in decentralized models, employment practices liability as regulations shift, cyber exposures to connected controls, and the market shocks that turn a covered loss into a larger business interruption claim. He shares practical guidance for building a winning submission—accurate valuations, defensible BI calculations, documented maintenance, and clear contingencies for parts, graders, and egg sourcing—plus scenario exercises every manager should run before renewal.

If you lead an egg or poultry operation, this conversation will help you decide where to invest first, which practices underwriters reward, and how to design a program that survives bad days and funds growth on good ones. Subscribe, share with your team, and leave a review with the one change you’ll make next week to improve your farm’s risk posture.

Hosted by Brandon Mulnix - Director of Commercial Accounts - Prism Controls
The Poultry Leadership Podcast is only possible because of its sponsor, Prism Controls
Find out more about them at www.prismcontrols.com