Captive Insurance for Agriculture Workshop Speakers

Marc Arnusch is a third-generation farmer and businessman leading Marc Arnusch Farms, a diversified, irrigated operation in Prospect Valley, Colorado. After earning a degree in Agricultural Economics, he returned to the family farm in 1995 and has since built it into a nearly 3,000-acre enterprise producing seed wheat, seed barley, specialty grains for the craft beer and spirits industry, and other value-added crops. Marc has held numerous leadership positions in agriculture, including President of the Colorado Corn Board and the Southeast Weld Chamber of Commerce, and currently serves as Chairman of the Colorado Ground Water Commission. His leadership and innovation in agriculture have been recognized nationally, most recently with Farm Journal’s Top Producer of the Year Award in 2025. Marc and his wife, Jill, have been married for over 33 years and take great pride in their son Brett, who continues the family’s farming legacy alongside his wife, Alexis, and daughter, Charlotte.

Mary M. Belka is owner and CEO of Eisenhart Consulting Group, Inc. and began her insurance industry career 40+ years ago.  Her experience includes service, sales, and operations management in insurance agencies; production underwriting and underwriting department management for insurance carriers; and captive and MGA program underwriting.  In 1996, she became an industry consultant, and has dedicated her practice to helping insurance organizations become extraordinary. Mary also serves as an endorsed agency E&O auditor for Swiss Re/Westport, and is a regular columnist for Rough Notes magazine. 

Connor Brach is an associate director in AM Best’s property/casualty ratings division. He is responsible for the rating and analysis of a diversified portfolio of P/C insurance companies followed by AM Best, notable medical professional liability insurers, as well as captives and other specialty commercial lines writers. He is also the lead author of AM Best’s annual report on the US crop insurance segment. Connor began his analyst career in 2015, when he joined AM Best after graduating from The College of New Jersey with a bachelor’s degree in finance. Since then, he has earned the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Financial Risk Manager (FRM) designations.
 

Peter is passionate about building and supporting successful businesses. With a background in law and finance, he has spent his career helping business owners manage risk, preserve wealth, and pass on core values to future generations. After earning his J.D. and a Certificate in Business and Tax Planning from Creighton University, he entered the financial services industry and never looked back. Peter has served as a partner at a boutique RIA/private equity firm, a regional VP for a life insurance company, and earned a Special-Needs Planning certificate from The American College. He’s worked with high-net-worth clients across industries on tax mitigation, asset protection, and business strategy. Career highlights include securing funding for housing developments, a cancer treatment protocol, and various business acquisitions. Prior to law school, he graduated from Utah State in Political Science and worked with lobbying firms in D.C. and Salt Lake City. He lives in Santa Clara, Utah, with his wife and three daughters.

With over 30 years of experience in the insurance industry, Vallery Eisenmann has focused on driving profitable growth in agricultural and commercial markets through sales leadership, innovative training, strategic partnerships, and hands-on mentorship.  She has developed and implemented training programs, managed multi-state sales objectives, and partnered with agents and field managers, underwriting and product departments, to expand market share. Her career has given her a front-row seat to the multifaceted challenges facing both the agricultural and insurance industries, allowing her to deliver solutions that enhance agent performance and business diversity.

Bill Garrelts is a seasoned farmer, rancher and business owner with over 30 years of experience in the ag industry. He currently leads the operations at Bossen Livestock Company, Bossen Ranch and A & B Cattle Company, in Arcadia, NE, where he has successfully diversified his business model through the years to keep up with the ever-changing industry. He leads a crew of ten employees in his cattle and farming operations. Bill’s wife Alison and son Peyton are also integral components of the operation, with his eldest son AJ working in the banking industry in Charlotte, NC.

Ken Harrison is a native of western Illinois, where he was raised on a grain and livestock farm. He earned a degree in agronomy from Southern Illinois University–Carbondale. Ken began his career as a foundation corn breeder for a major seed company before recognizing the financial opportunities in agricultural insurance. He transitioned into the industry by becoming an Illinois Farm Bureau Insurance agent, launching a career that would span several decades and make a lasting impact on U.S. crop insurance policy and practice.

As his expertise grew, Ken founded an independent insurance agency and later became a key participant in the emerging federal crop insurance industry. Following the Federal Crop Insurance Act of 1980, Ken joined what would become the Risk Management Agency (RMA) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. During his tenure, he contributed to the development of multiple programs that today account for more than 80% of RMA’s total premium volume. After retiring from RMA in 2007, Ken re-entered the retail insurance market, focusing on production risk management for producers. His interest in captive insurance began during Hurricane Andrew, when much of Florida’s citrus industry relied on captives for hurricane coverage. Later, seeing a vegetable processor successfully apply the same approach reignited his passion for micro-captive insurance as a powerful tool for rural enterprises.

Ken is now co-owner of The Eliason Group, which operates across traditional insurance, captive insurance, and agricultural finance. The group promotes its work and educational outreach through CaptiveOnTheFarm.com.

Nolan High is a fifth-generation farmer from Bertrand,  Nebraska. Nolan is married to Shelby and a graduate of the University of Nebraska-Kearney. Nolan actively manages risk across his operation, Century Production Company, by employing a diverse set of tools and strategies. Demonstrating forward-thinking leadership in agricultural finance, he has also established and manages his own captive insurance program as part of his comprehensive risk management approach.

Committed to innovation and sustainability, Nolan is currently collaborating on a regenerative agriculture project with Professor Emeritus Dr. John Lamb, a soil scientist at the University of Minnesota. His work reflects a deep commitment to advancing both the economic and environmental resilience of modern farming.

Phil High is a fourth-generation farmer from Bertrand, Nebraska. As the operator of a legacy farm, Phil has long been motivated to enhance profitability by strengthening risk management and ensuring the long-term resiliency needed to pass the operation on to the next generation. Phil’s interest in innovative risk management strategies deepened through his participation in a pilot program for a virtual grain elevator sponsored by Koch Industries of Wichita, Kansas. When Koch terminated the project, Phil’s passion for agricultural risk management continued to grow, leading him to co-found and serve as a principal of the Eliason Group, a firm specializing in farm-level risk management in crop production, marketing, and finance.

Phil and his wife, Heidi, are proud parents of four children and are enjoying being grandparents. He is willing to share his experience with micro-captives and how he leverages tax-efficient structures as part of a comprehensive farm risk management strategy.

Ron Hilliges is General Manager of Norfolk Mutual Insurance Company in Norfolk, Nebraska. Norfolk Mutual is a 135-year-old mutual insurance company, established in 1890. Hilliges has been with the company for over 28 years, helping the company advance from typewriters to computers and data processors and from paper files to digital storage. Even as a relatively small mutual insurance company, Norfolk Mutual's risk in force (the total value of the property insured) has grown from $800 million to $2.6 billion and its been the surviving entity of two different mergers over the past 30 years. 

Cheryl Koch is currently President and CEO of Agency Management Resource Group, a training, education, and management consulting firm located in Lincoln, California, serving various facets of the insurance and financial services industries.  Most of her 50-year career has been spent on the independent agency side of the business, including ownership in a large Southern California agency. Cheryl’s experience also includes working for a regional insurance company as Assistant Vice President for Learning and Development. 

She received a B.A. in Economics from UCLA and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Sacramento State University.  She has also attained more than a dozen professional designations in insurance. The one of which she is most proud is the Agribusiness and Farm Insurance Specialist (AFIS), which she created with Dr. Emmett J. Vaughan. Cheryl has served on various national, state and local insurance boards, including the CPCU Society, and has authored technical books for several publishers including the Insurance Institute of America, International Risk Management Institute and Rough Notes magazine.

AC VanRaden began his career in the insurance industry in May 2020, specializing in agricultural and commercial insurance. Since joining American National Insurance, he has consistently demonstrated top-tier performance across the Central Region and company-wide. In 2021, AC ranked among the top 10 in the Central Region for Agricultural and Targeted Commercial new business. He went on to earn the #1 spot in the Central Region and a top 25 national ranking in 2022. In 2023, he placed #3 in the region and qualified for the prestigious President’s Club. Building on that momentum, AC achieved the #1 position company-wide in 2024. For 2025, he continues to lead as #1 in the Central Region and #5 in the company.

Cory Walters’ applied research program investigates producer decision-making under risk and uncertainty, with a particular emphasis on how agricultural producers use risk management tools to navigate incomplete or imperfect information. His work evaluates both publicly provided instruments, such as federally subsidized crop insurance, and privately provided strategies, including pre-harvest hedging and other market-based mechanisms.

Dr. Walters’ work bridges academic research, industry application, and policy design, engaging with both public institutions and private partners. He grew up on a grain farm in Montana, where his family produced both winter and spring wheat, canola and lentils—an experience that continues to inform the practical relevance of his research in agricultural risk management and farm decision-making.

William P. White is the Managing Principal of Acuity Strategic Consulting, an independent insurance advisory firm specializing in risk financing, captive insurance operations, and regulatory policy advisory services. ​ He has extensive experience in executive roles within the insurance and reinsurance industries, as well as regulatory positions with state and federal agencies. ​

As the former Commissioner of the District of Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities, and Banking (DISB), Mr. White implemented legislation aligned with the Dodd-Frank Act and Affordable Care Act, co-chaired global supervisory standards committees, and represented the U.S. insurance industry in international forums. ​

He is an expert in alternative insurance risk financing, particularly captive insurance companies, having developed and licensed over 150 captives. ​ He also created regulatory frameworks for captive insurance in the District of Columbia and Delaware. ​

Mr. White holds a degree from Dartmouth College, an MBA from NYU, and an Associate in Reinsurance (ARe) designation. ​

www.acuity-strategic.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/williampwhite/

White has provided a one-page document summarizing the key benefits of captive insurance. Download it here.