Southern Farm Bureau Life life insurance

Overview

Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance Company is the life insurer behind the Farm Bureau Insurance agents in much of the South. It writes the life policies and annuities those agents sell in 11 states: Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia. The company ranked #36 among U.S. life insurance groups by 2024 individual life direct premiums written, according to NAIC market share data, with about $944.5 million in premiums and a 0.60% market share. It files with the NAIC as a single company (NAIC code 68896) rather than as part of a group.

Southern Farm Bureau Life is a stock insurance company, but not a publicly traded one. According to the Mississippi Insurance Department's examination report as of December 31, 2023, its stock is held in equal 10% shares by investment or holding corporations controlled by the Farm Bureau Federations of Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia. Its board is made up largely of the presidents of those state Farm Bureaus, most of them working farmers.

The company says it has 834,916 policies in force and 3,825 agents, and that it passed $200 billion of life insurance in force in its 80th year. The examination report put its total admitted assets at about $16.1 billion and its capital and surplus at about $3.3 billion at the end of 2023. It is best known for traditional participating whole life and level term sold face to face by the same local agents who handle members' home, auto and farm insurance.

History

In 1946 the state Farm Bureau Federations of Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi and Texas each formed an investment corporation to organize a regional life company. Southern Farm Bureau Life was incorporated under Mississippi law on October 30, 1946, and the company says it began operations on January 2, 1947. It credits Ransom Aldrich, a Mississippi farm leader, as its founder, and says it had issued more than half a million policies within its first 10 years.

The ownership has shifted with Farm Bureau politics. When the Alabama Farm Bureau left the American Farm Bureau Federation in 1972, its shares were reacquired and cancelled; Alabama members are now served by the separate Alfa organization. In 1973 companies controlled by the Farm Bureaus of Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia became shareholders, and the Florida Farm Bureau's holding company bought in during 1984. The company has formally disclaimed control by its shareholders under Mississippi's holding company law, which means it is not treated as a subsidiary of any one state Farm Bureau.

Colorado is the one state where the company sells without a Colorado shareholder; the examination report says it markets there and in the 10 owner states through joint operations with the Farm Bureau property and casualty companies. The company says it reached $2 billion of insurance in force by the end of the 1980s, $100 billion by 2010 and more than $200 billion by 2026, its 80th anniversary. Farm Bureau life insurers in other regions, such as Farm Bureau Financial Services in Iowa, COUNTRY Financial in Illinois and Tennessee Farmers Life, are separate companies.

Life insurance products

Southern Farm Bureau Life's current product brochures describe a short, traditional lineup:

• Premier Term, level term life insurance for 10, 20 or 30 years. After the level period the policy renews each year at a higher premium until age 95, when it ends. Premier Term is non-participating, and it can be converted to permanent whole life without new medical evidence within the limits set in the contract (see converting term life to permanent: how the conversion option works).
• Whole Life, the traditional plan, with guaranteed level premiums payable to age 100 and a guaranteed death benefit and cash value that run to age 120.
• Limited pay whole life: 20 Pay Life and 30 Pay Life, which are fully paid after 20 or 30 years, and Single Premium Whole Life, bought with one lump sum. See limited-pay whole life: 10-pay, 20-pay and paid-up at 65.

The whole life policies are participating: they may earn dividends after the first policy year, which the company does not guarantee. Owners can use dividends to buy paid-up additional insurance, leave them on deposit to earn interest, take them in cash or apply them to premiums. Cash value can be reached through policy loans, dividends or by surrendering the policy for a payment option.

Riders on whole life include 10- or 20-year Premier Term and Participating Term riders, a Spouse Term rider, a Single Premium Paid-Up Additions rider (minimum $1,000), a Children's Term rider that pays $20,000 per child, a Guaranteed Insurability Option for insureds up to age 37, waiver of premium for disability before age 60, payor death or disability benefit on children's policies and an accelerated benefit rider for terminal illness. Term policies can add the children's term, waiver of premium and accelerated benefit riders. All coverage is medically and financially underwritten by the company; it does not advertise guaranteed issue or no-exam products on its site.

Other products

The company offers two fixed deferred annuities: a Qualified Flexible Premium Deferred Annuity for traditional and Roth IRAs (minimum $2,500) and SEP or SIMPLE plans (minimum $1,000), and a Non-Qualified Single Premium Deferred Annuity. Some state Farm Bureau companies also offer long-term care and estate planning services through their agents.

Buying and service

You cannot buy a policy online. Southern Farm Bureau Life sells only through Farm Bureau Insurance agents of the state Farm Bureau companies, and the website's "Find an Agent" tool routes you to a local office. Ask the local office whether Farm Bureau membership is required in your state.

Policyholders can register on the website's My Policies portal and pay bills online. Policy service is available at 800-457-9611 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Central Time, Monday through Friday, and the local agent can also handle changes such as beneficiary updates.

Claims

Death claims go to the company's life claims line, 800-562-0919, or through the local Farm Bureau agent. The website does not publish an online claim form or a list of required documents, so expect to provide a certified death certificate, the policy number and a claimant statement; our claims guide explains the usual steps. Mail can be sent to P.O. Box 78, Jackson, MS 39205.

Ratings and reputation

On May 19, 2026, AM Best affirmed Southern Farm Bureau Life's A+ (Superior) financial strength rating and upgraded its long-term issuer credit rating to "aa" from "aa-", with a stable outlook. AM Best cited balance sheet strength it assesses as strongest, a growing individual life business, a large captive agency force across 11 states and a favorable market position in Farm Bureau communities. The company does not publish ratings from S&P, Moody's or Fitch on its site.

The Mississippi Insurance Department's most recent financial examination, covering 2019 through 2023 and published in 2025, reported no adjustments and noted that the previous examination had no recommendations. Southern Farm Bureau Life was not among the insurers ranked in the J.D. Power 2026 U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study.

Who it suits

Southern Farm Bureau Life suits people in its 11 states who already work with a Farm Bureau agent or want one local agent for all their insurance, and who value guaranteed, dividend-paying whole life or plain level term from a well-capitalized company. It is a poor fit for anyone who wants to compare quotes online, buy without an agent, live outside its territory, or buy universal life, indexed products or small guaranteed-issue policies, none of which it promotes.

• Strengths: A+ (Superior) from AM Best, affirmed in May 2026, with an upgraded "aa" issuer rating; participating whole life with limited-pay and single-premium options; term converts to whole life without new evidence of insurability; local agents tied to state Farm Bureaus.
• Weaknesses: Sold only in 11 states and only through Farm Bureau agents; no online quotes or applications; a narrow product list with no universal life, indexed or no-exam options advertised; only one rating agency shown.

How to contact Southern Farm Bureau Life