May 9, 2019

Benson joins Drape Net North America as sales represenative

Drape Net North America has added Dean Benson as its West Coast sales representative. Benson has 26 years of agricultural risk management and crop insurance experience.

Benson started his career as a crop insurance agent. His initial role was to meet with growers individually to outline risk management options that would work for their farming operations. He became a manager, helping to open and supervise offices in New York and California.

Benson then opened a crop insurance agency with his wife Judi, primarily servicing perennial producers in Washington and Oregon. They built up the agency over ten years to annual sales of $14.5 million with a staff of 12. Their agency was acquired by Northwest Farm Credit Services in 2008.

At the time of the acquisition Benson was hired by Northwest Farm Credit as the Senior VP of Insurance Services, overseeing operations in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. His responsibilities included marketing and sales, agency portfolio acquisitions, budgeting, personnel management, and contract negotiations. In addition, Benson represented Farm Credit as a speaker at grower meetings, staff training’s, and various conferences. He presented at the USDA Ag Conference and to House of Representative staffers providing information on the need for strong risk management programs for producers. In 2015, Benson was awarded the Outstanding Service Award from National Crop Insurance Services. He participated in “hill visits” to lawmakers in Washington, D.C. on several occasions to discuss issues related to crop insurance and risk management. Benson retired from NW Farm Credit in December  2018.

According to a news release, Drape Net is a cost effective crop protection system that helps to greatly reduce hail damage, bird damage, sunburn, and wind damage. At a third of the price of structured netting, it’s hard to say no to Drape Net. Dean will be servicing customers in the Pacific Northwest via customer meetings, installs, and consultations. He’s a familiar face within the industry and he’s excited to be back out servicing customers and continuing to cultivate and enhance grower relationships with Drape Net.

Benson can be reached at [email protected] or (518) 593-8511. 

The West Coast Sales Office is located at 1223 Sheridan Avenue, Suite E, Prosser, Washington 99350.