The difficulty for farmers and ranchers in 2012 was many times more than it was in recent years -- so, too, was the need for a safety net. That was evident last week when Mike Freeman, owner of J-9 Crop Insurance in Ault, reported that his customers will receive more than $5.5 million in crop insurance indemnities to cover their agricultural losses this year. J-9 Crop Insurance, which covers approximately 500 farming and ranching customers, has paid less than $2 million in claims to its customers in each of the previous years, Freeman said. "No doubt it was a challenging year, and certainly not just here," Freeman said.