10 Tips for Taking an Annual Farm and Barn Inventory

Stable Management by Kimberly S. Brown

Could you accurately list every piece of equipment that you own?

While we think we know what we own and what is in our barn and tack room, do we really? If a fire destroyed your buildings, could you list for your insurance everything that you lost? If someone broke into your tack room and took everything, would you be able to provide your insurance company a detailed accounting of the losses? 

Unfortunately there are many instances of fires, accidents, storms or robbery that happen every day. The initial shock and destruction to your livelihood are just the immediate pains; then comes the time of trying to get back to normal.

Just as you should have a home inventory, you should have a barn and farm inventory.

While every barn and farm is different, here are 10 tips that might help you complete this task in a shorter time and do a better job of inventorying your property.

1. Take videos. You should take your smart phone or a video camera and simply do a 360-degree turn around every area of your barn, inside and out. Make sure you cover the entire area, from floor to ceiling. You can zoom in on each piece of equipment, or take a separate video or photo of it.

2. Take photos. Having a photo of each piece of equipment can help you determine replacement cost and justify it with your insurance company. You also can do the same 360-degree coverage with multiple photos as you did with the video camera, but sometimes verifying the condition of a piece of equipment or tack is more difficult on a photo that covers half of a room.

3. Create an Excel file. Make a list of every piece of equipment, tack or clothing (horse and human) that is stored in each building. Marking its location also can help in filing a claim. After a fire or robbery, for instance, can you remember if there were three or four pairs of riding boots in the tack room? Group your inventory so you have all your saddles listed together, all your bridles listed together, all the boots and wraps listed together, etc. This will make it easier to update your file throughout the year or annually. Don’t forget to list things inside tack trunks, medical cabinets and desk drawers and hung on the walls.

4. Inventory your trailer. Make sure that on the day you do your inventory you include everything that you store in your horse trailer. Sometimes owners are surprised at how much tack and equipment is actually kept in the trailer, especially in the summer.

5. Inventory outside your barns. If a tornado or fire destroyed your property, could you list all the jump standards, poles, barrels, hoses, etc. that are located in and around your property to give to your insurance company? Do you have recent images of your barns, run-in sheds and arenas? click to continue reading.

Check out Stablemanagement.com for more tips!

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June 26, 2016

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