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  • Hargrove Ranch

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OUR STORY

RAFORD'S ANCESTORS IN 1919 STANDING ON THE PILE OF WHEAT THAT LITERALLY SAVED THE FARM AFTER THE DROUGHT OF 1917-1918.

Our Agricultural Beginnings

Raford’s grandparents settled on a farm west of Rotan in 1906. The family almost lost that farm to the drought of 1917-1918. Finally, it rained, and they made a bumper crop in 1919. That wheat crop literally saved the family farm, which Raford and his wife, Lana, continue to own and operate.

The Hargrove family continued farming, despite the unpredictability of the market. In 1973, cotton had been 62 cents per pound, yet the following year in 1974, prices dropped to 24 cents per pound. Gross income went from $387.50 per acre to $31 per acre. At the time, there was no insurance to bridge the financial gap between a good year and a bad year. They enjoyed some good years, but they also had to weather several more bad years. In 1981, the Hargrove family made a great crop, but prices crashed again.

In 1982, things got worse. It was a bad year for crops, almost no one had crop insurance, and credit was drying up quickly. Raford saw that the community needed a crop insurance agent so devoted himself full time to crop insurance. Hargrove Crop Insurance officially began in 1983.

IN 1989, RAFORD BOUGHT AN ABANDONED RESTAURANT IN ROTAN TO CONVERT IT INTO THE MAIN OFFICE. COINCIDENTALLY, THIS RESTAURANT WAS THE SITE OF HIS & LANA’S 1968 WEDDING REHEARSAL DINNER.

Starting Crop Insurance

In 1983, Raford found that in order to calculate crop insurance cost and coverage properly, he needed a computer and computer software. He bought an IBM personal computer, and (with some help) wrote the first computer program to properly calculate cost/coverage, maximizing benefits and minimizing cost. During this time, he discovered a mistake in the Federal Crop Insurance’s rating system—they were over-charging people for skip-row cotton. Rates for the following year (1984) were going to rise about 50% higher than they should have been—something no one could afford. He went to the regional offices of Federal Crop Insurance in Oklahoma City and Kansas City trying to get the rates fixed. The bureaucrats would not listen to him.

THE TERRIBLE COTTON CROP IN 2012 IN NUECES COUNTY. IT WAS A GOOD YEAR TO BE COVERED BY CROP INSURANCE!

Fighting for Farmers

Raford told his father that he was going to have to close the business, but his dad suggested he go to Washington DC and see their Congressman, Charlie Stenholm. Raford said, “It will cost another $1000 to go to Washington,” but his dad retorted, “What is it going to cost you to close your business?” So Raford went to Washington. Charlie Stenholm told the head of Federal Crop Insurance to listen to Raford Hargrove. This time they did, and the FCIC fixed the rates.

Raford went home, re-programmed his computer with the new (as yet-unpublished rates), and flooded West Texas with advertising. For two weeks, Hargrove Crop Insurance was the only agency with the new, lower rates. Other agents told farmers we didn’t know what we were doing, or that we were crooks trying to get farmers to sign up with cheap rates that did not exist. Then, the FCIC published the new rates, and Hargrove Crop Insurance was vindicated.

RAFORD AND LANA’S GRANDCHILDREN—ETHAN, KAITLYN, CALLIE, AND DYLAN HARGROVE—ON THE FAMILY FARM IN 2007, WALKING THROUGH THE LARGEST COTTON CROP THE FARM EVER MADE.

Continued Work in Agriculture

Today, Hargrove Crop Insurance concentrates on Multi-Peril Crop Insurance for cotton, wheat, grain sorghum, and corn. Hargrove Crop Insurance works all over Texas, and concentrates its operations in the Rolling Plains area as well as the Coastal Bend surrounding Corpus Christi. Our main office is in Rotan, and we also maintain service offices in Haskell and Anson.

In addition to running the crop insurance business, Raford takes special, very personal, interest in other USDA programs for farmers. His custom-built computer software now uses the individual client’s insurance datafiles to forecast the amounts of, and maximize, FSA program benefits.

Raford is joined in his work by his daughter in-law Amy Hargrove (Texas A&M ‘96), Ty and Lauren Cross (husband-wife graduates of Texas A&M ‘17), long-time employees Carol Boyd and Vickie Etheredge, and new employees including Sabra Preston, Cindy Heflin, and his granddaughter Callie Hargrove (Texas A&M '24). He is also joined by several other excellent employees across the offices in Rotan, Haskell, Anson, and Snyder, TX.

OUR PEOPLE

We have always felt honored to serve people in production agriculture and to help them make better, more informed risk management decisions. We have a farming and ranching heritage and share your values of faith, hard work, family, and generational land stewardship. But just as important, we have a commanding use of technology to help you evaluate available programs and to leverage these programs to improve the profitability of your operation.

To view more info about our people, click or tap on their pictures.

ROTAN OFFICE

210 N CLEVELAND AVENUE, PO BOX 400, ROTAN, TX 79546 | PHONE: (325) 735-3606 | FAX: (325) 735-2342

RAFORD HARGROVE

CONTACT RAFORD

TY CROSS

CONTACT TY

LAUREN CROSS

CONTACT LAUREN

CALLIE HARGROVE

CONTACT CALLIE

CAROL BOYD

CONTACT CAROL

VICKIE ETHEREDGE

CONTACT VICKIE

SABRA PRESTON

CONTACT SABRA

CINDY HEFLIN

CONTACT CINDY

HASKELL OFFICE

703 N 1ST EAST, HASKELL, TX 79521 | PHONE: (940) 864-8136 | FAX: (940) 864-3161

TAYLOR MANSKE

CONTACT TAYLOR

TERRI KLOSE

CONTACT TERRI

ANSON OFFICE

2302 COMMERCIAL AVENUE, PO BOX 28, ANSON, TX 79501 | PHONE: (325) 823-2340 | FAX: (325) 823-2692

AMY ELROD

CONTACT AMY

SNYDER OFFICE

2701 COLLEGE AVENUE, PO BOX 194, SNYDER, TX 79550 | PHONE: (325) 573-8975 | FAX: (325) 573-5263

AMY HARGROVE

CONTACT AMY

MONICA LACY

CONTACT MONICA

LORI GARNER

CONTACT LORI

PAIGE SHAW

CONTACT PAIGE

TAMMIE KELLEY

CONTACT TAMMIE

PRODUCTS & SERVICES

At Hargrove Ranch Insurance, we specialize in USDA programs that can be used to manage many of the risks involved in ranching, including lack of rainfall, failed hay/forage crops, and volatile cattle prices.

MULTI-PERIL CROP INSURANCE (MPCI) PLANS

Revenue Protection (RP) policies insure producers against yield losses due to natural causes such as drought, excessive moisture, hail, wind, frost, insects, and disease as well as revenue losses caused by a change in the harvest price from the projected price. The producer selects the amount of the average yield they wish to insure—from 50-75 percent (in some areas up to 85 percent). The projected price and the harvest price are 100 percent of the amounts determined in accordance with the Commodity Exchange Price Provisions and are based on daily settlement prices for certain futures contracts. The amount of insurance protection is based on the greater of the projected price or the harvest price. If the harvested plus any appraised production multiplied by the harvest price is less than the amount of insurance protection, the producer is paid an indemnity based on the difference.

Yield Protection (YP) policies insure producers in the same manner as APH policies, except a projected price is used to determine insurance coverage. The projected price is determined in accordance with the Commodity Exchange Price Provisions and is based on daily settlement prices for certain futures contracts. The producer selects the percent of the projected price they want to insure—between 55 and 100 percent.

CROP HAIL

In addition to Multi-Peril Crop Insurance (MPCI), Hargrove Crop Insurance offers coverage against hail damage. Because a single hail storm can totally destroy growing crops, many producers choose to add this coverage. While your MPCI policy is a base for crop coverage, it must be purchased prior to planting, and the cost and coverage are determined by RMA according to yield history. A Crop Hail policy can be purchased at any time during the growing season and you are free to decide the insurance coverage per acre. Depending on the crop, a hail policy may also provide coverage for loss caused by fire, lightning, vandalism, and malicious mischief as well as being insured while being transported to a first place of storage.

Farming is unpredictable and risky, and a single hail storm can undo all of the hard work, time, and money spent. Crop Hail coverage can help protect your investment and add peace of mind.

FROM THE FIELD

Hargrove Ranch Insurance covers farmers and ranchers all over the country. Here are some photographs from out in the field to bring our view to you. Visit our Flickr photostream for more from the field photographs!

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    AMY HARGROVE - Snyder, TX

    Amy Hargrove was raised in West Texas on the same land that her family settled in 1889. Amy graduated from Texas A&M with a degree in Accounting. She married Mark Hargrove and they returned to Snyder, Texas, where Amy has been in crop insurance since 1996. They have two children, and they ranch in Scurry and Borden Counties. Amy has a tremendous respect for the farmers and ranchers of this country and takes great pride in helping them manage the ever changing risks of production agriculture.

    RAFORD HARGROVE - Rotan, TX

    Raford Hargrove, founder of Hargrove Crop Insurance, has B. S. and M. S. degrees in Plant and Soil Science and Agronomy from Texas A&M University (1970). His wife, Lana, is a daughter of a local rancher. Raford and Lana are cotton farmers, and they live two miles from where Raford grew up. They have two sons, Rafe and Mark, who each married local ladies, live in the area, and whose families also devote themselves to crop and ranch insurance. He has spent the last 38 years trying to make crop insurance better for the dryland farmers of Texas. Raford also understands FSA farm programs, and how they work together with crop insurance. He is always eager to help farmers and ranchers with their crop insurance and FSA program needs.

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    LAUREN CROSS - Rotan, TX

    Lauren Cross graduated from Texas A&M University in 2017. Following graduation, Lauren moved to West Texas with her husband, Ty Cross and their children, Caroline and Carter, where she works for Hargrove Crop Insurance in Rotan as a processor. She specializes in data processing as well as hail insurance.

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    SABRA PRESTON

    Sabra Preston was born and raised in Rotan, TX, and grew up playing in the fields of Fisher County. She and her husband moved back in 2022 to finish raising their 2 boys on part of the family farm where her grandparents and great-grandparents farmed, ranched, and raised children.

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    VICKIE ETHEREDGE - Rotan, TX


    Vickie Etheredge was born and raised in Rotan, TX. She grew up on the family farm east of town and spent time with her grandparents on their farm in Kent County. She joined Hargrove Crop Insurance in 2010 and assists farmers in the South Texas region.

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    TY CROSS - Rotan, TX

    Ty Cross was born and raised in a small town in central Texas. Ty graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in Agricultural Economics. Following graduation, Ty and his wife Lauren moved to West Texas, where he works in both crop and ranch insurance. He specializes in production agriculture as well as government programs.

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    TERRI KLOSE


    Terri Klose lives in Haskell, TX with her husband Eddie. They have 3 children and 1 grandson. She grew up in Rochester, TX. She loved being raised in a farming community and spent many hours on the farm with her dad. After graduating high school, she went to work for the Farm Service Agency. In August of 2023 she retired from the FSA after 41 years of service. She joined Hargrove Crop Insurance just a few days later. Terri loves being able to continue working with farmers.

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    MONICA LACY

    Monica Lacy was born and raised in Snyder, TX. She grew up helping her parents on a small farm outside of town where they raised cattle. She also spent most of her summers helping her grandparents maintain a cotton farming operation. She graduated from Texas Tech University in 2003 with an Animal Science degree, and soon afterward decided to move herself and her son back to Snyder, where she began working for the Hargrove family in 2005.

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    LORI GARNER

    Lori Garner grew up in an agricultural community that continues to thrive in the farming and ranching industry today. She joined Hargrove Ranch Insurance in 2010 assisting agents with PRF, Annual Forage and LRP services.

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    TAMMIE KELLEY

    Tammie Kelley was raised in Snyder, TX. She and Nathan, her husband of 45 years, live South of Rotan in Fisher County. Tammie enjoys being an active partner in her & Nathan’s cow/calf operation. She has a deep-rooted passion for the Ag industry that began with her early years in FFA and being part of a rich farming and ranching community for many years. Tammie joined the Hargrove Insurance family in 2023 and is working in our Snyder Office to assist with PRF and Annual Forage processing.

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    AMY ELROD - Anson, TX


    Amy Elrod was born and raised in West Texas. She grew up playing in the fields of Fisher County while her parents and grandparents worked on the farm. While in high school she worked during the summers filing in the Rotan office. After college in 1999, she joined the Hargrove family full time. In 2020 she and her family moved to Anson, and she is now working in our Anson office location.

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    CAROL BOYD - Rotan, TX


    Carol was born in Fisher County and raised in Dalhart up in the Texas Panhandle. She was raised around the cattle industry and spent her summers in Fisher County with her grandparents on the family farm which has been in the family for over 100 years. She returned to Fisher County in 1983 and has worked in several agricultural fields including the cotton gins, FSA office, and crop insurance. For the last 28 years, Carol has worked for Hargrove Crop Insurance where she specializes in wheat.

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    PAIGE SHAW

    Paige Shaw moved to West Texas in 1985. She owns T & P Shaw Farms which is still in cotton production today. After a thirty year teaching career, Paige retired and joined the Hargrove family business in 2016.

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    CINDY HEFLIN

    Cindy Heflin was raised in Dallas, but comes from a family of West Texas cotton farmers. She joined Hargrove Crop Insurance in 2011 assisting agents with PRF, Annual Forage, and Multi-Peril Insurance services.

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    TAYLOR MANSKE

    Taylor graduated from Texas Tech University in 2022 with a degree in Animal Science. She grew up farming and livestock her whole life, and enjoys helping farmers in any way she can. Although she is from Haskell, she has lived in many places throughout the big country.

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    CALLIE HARGROVE

    Callie was raised in Snyder, Texas, and returned home after graduating from Texas A&M University with a degree in Agricultural Economics. Callie ranches with her parents in Borden and Scurry Counties. Before graduating from college, Callie interned with Combest Sell and Associates, the Texas Sorghum Producers, and the House Committee on Agriculture.

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