For New York Farm Bureau member Gary Orbaker of Williamson, the choice for workers’ compensation for his orchard has always been Safety Group 486.

“We’ve been with them since day one of inception,” Orbaker said about the 40-year -old strictly agricultural program that was started by farmers who understood the need for safety, security, and competitive pricing.

Since 1967, the group has been providing just that.

“I like the dividends we’ve gotten back,’ said Orbaker, who grows about 500 acres of apples, cherries, peaches, prunes and pears near the Lake Ontario shoreline in Wayne County. “And everything was straightforward as far as claims we’ve had.”

A safety group puts together people with similar businesses, said Kevin Cook, director of Member Services for New York Farm Bureau. About 2,500 members, like Orbaker, get their workers’ comp insurance through Safety Group 486.

“We’ve always declared a dividend,” Cook said about the workers’ comp insurance, which is underwritten by the New York State Insurance Fund.

The program generates $14 million per year in premiums. The dividend comes from the money left over each year after the group has paid its claims. Depending on the amount of claims paid out, the safety group could potentially refund a major portion of policyholder premiums.

Last year, the dividend was 32 percent; Cook said it’s been as high as 70 percent and it’s never been lower than 20 percent. During the past five years, the average has been 31 percent.

Members are eligible for an up-front discount of 20 percent and free safety inspections are offered to protect farmers, their employees and their businesses.

Representatives at Farm Bureau’s Member Services are available to help with billing questions and claims. Participating Farm Bureau members also have the satisfaction of knowing that modest earnings on workers’ compensation insurance by New York Farm Bureau support important programs that serve New York farmers every day.

Orbaker said the customer service for Safety Group 486 has been outstanding.

“We’ve had the State Insurance Fund out looking over claims and they explained things very clearly,” he said. “And the people who run the program for Farm Bureau at Member Services have been very good handling any issues.”

Safety Group 486 has been willing to make adjustments when their estimations have been off, Orbaker said.

“They’ll estimate your payroll, but they might not know you’re leasing less land, or you had a poor crop and are going to come up short,” he said. “You could end up with an enormous rate, but these people really work with clients and make adjustments.”

And because of the relationship with the New York State Insurance Fund, farmers don’t have to be fearful of large changes coming all at once, Orbaker said.

“Small farm or large farm, they treat everyone the same,” he said. “They are very customer service-oriented, and that’s the way it should be.”