- How AFIS Exams Actually Work
- The Five Course Examinations You Must Schedule
- PIIAC/Big I Nebraska Delivery Route
- Recorded-Course Option and the Three-Month Window
- 2026 IRMI AgriCon: The Renewal Deadline That Matters
- Building a Five-Exam Schedule Without Burning Out
- Who Hires AFIS-Credentialed Professionals
- Frequently Asked Questions
- AFIS has no single "test day" - it requires five separate 50-question online exams, one per course.
- Each course exam is delivered through the PIIAC/Big I Nebraska route and priced individually at $169.
- The recorded-course option gives three months of access but does not carry state CE credit.
- 2026 renewal can be satisfied at IRMI AgriCon with one full conference day or at least five verified sessions.
How AFIS Exams Actually Work
If you're searching for "AFIS exam dates" expecting a fixed national test-day calendar, the first thing to understand is that Agribusiness and Farm Insurance Specialist - Farm Property Insurance (AFIS 1) doesn't work that way. IRMI's AFIS designation is earned by completing five separate course examinations, not by sitting for one comprehensive test on a scheduled date. That structure changes how you should think about "scheduling" the credential entirely - instead of marking one exam day on your calendar, you're managing five smaller deadlines tied to course access windows.
This matters because a lot of generic exam-prep advice assumes a proctored, date-specific sitting. AFIS candidates instead work through online, on-demand course examinations, which means your real scheduling task is sequencing five exams around your work calendar, your license renewal cycle, and any continuing education deadlines your state imposes. For a full breakdown of what's actually tested in each course, see the AFIS Exam Domains 2026 guide.
The Five Course Examinations You Must Schedule
Earning the AFIS designation requires passing exams for five distinct courses. Because these are separate courses - not weighted domains inside one comprehensive exam - you can (and should) schedule them independently based on your existing knowledge and workload:
Farm Property Insurance (AFIS 1)
This is the flagship course most candidates start with, and the one most closely tied to this site's practice materials. It centers on personal and business farm buildings and contents, tractors, combines, livestock exposures, and the coverage forms that apply to them.
- Farm dwellings, outbuildings, and business personal property
- Scheduled and unscheduled farm personal property
- Equipment, machinery, and livestock valuation and coverage triggers
Farm Liability Insurance
Covers liability exposures unique to farm operations, distinct from the property-focused first course.
Farm Auto, Workers Compensation, and Umbrella Insurance
Bundles three related exposure areas that farm accounts frequently need layered together.
Special Farm Property Insurance Lines
Addresses property exposures that fall outside the standard farm property course.
Miscellaneous Farm Insurance Lines
Rounds out the designation with additional coverage lines not captured in the other four courses.
Keep each course's practice bank separate while you study - mixing questions across courses tends to blur coverage forms that look similar but apply differently. The AFIS Study Guide 2026 walks through how to sequence review material course by course rather than treating AFIS as one undifferentiated test bank.
PIIAC/Big I Nebraska Delivery Route
The primary delivery route for AFIS course exams runs through PIIAC in partnership with Big I Nebraska. Each course under this route provides a 50-question, multiple-choice, online examination. This is the mechanism you'll actually use to "sit" for each of the five exams described above.
Pricing under this route lists individual courses at $169 each. Since there are five courses required for the full designation, your scheduling plan should also double as a budgeting plan - you're not paying one exam fee, you're paying per course as you register and complete each one. For a full cost breakdown across every course and renewal cycle, see AFIS Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
Key Takeaway
Register for one course at a time through the PIIAC/Big I Nebraska route, complete its 50-question online exam, and only then move to registration for the next course - this avoids paying for access windows you can't use before they lapse.
Recorded-Course Option and the Three-Month Window
If your schedule doesn't align with live webinar sessions, IRMI's recorded-course option provides three months of recording access per course. This access period functions as your real scheduling constraint - mark the start date the moment you register, because the three-month clock begins immediately.
Two things to keep straight when you plan around this option:
- The recorded-course option can count toward the AFIS designation itself.
- It does not award the advertised state insurance CE credit that the live delivery route provides.
If continuing education credit matters for your license renewal timeline in addition to the designation itself, factor that into which delivery format you choose - not just which one fits your calendar better.
Also note that webinar instruction time is not the same thing as an examination time limit. The hours listed for a webinar session describe how long the instructional content runs, not how long you have to complete the 50-question exam itself. Don't confuse the two when blocking time on your calendar.
2026 IRMI AgriCon: The Renewal Deadline That Matters
Once you've earned the designation, annual continuing education keeps it active. The 2026 IRMI AgriCon renewal route is worth building into your yearly calendar specifically because of how flexible - and how bounded - it is.
Under the 2026 AgriCon renewal route, you can satisfy your AFIS renewal requirement in one of two ways:
- Attend one full conference day, or
- Attend at least five sessions with attendance verification
The $169 renewal fee is included in AgriCon registration itself, and attending an AFIS course for renewal purposes does not require retaking its examination. This is a meaningfully different rhythm than the original five-exam pursuit - renewal is about attendance and verification, not re-testing.
Building a Five-Exam Schedule Without Burning Out
Because AFIS is really five smaller exams rather than one large one, the smartest scheduling approach is to stagger them against your work calendar instead of cramming all five into one stretch. A simple staggered approach looks like this:
Farm Property Insurance (AFIS 1)
- Work through buildings, contents, tractors, combines, and livestock coverage forms
- Register for the 50-question online exam once practice performance is consistent
Farm Liability Insurance
- Shift practice materials entirely - don't blend liability questions with property material
Farm Auto, Workers Compensation, and Umbrella
- Treat this as three linked exposure areas within one course exam
Special Farm Property Insurance Lines
- Focus on exposures the first property course intentionally left out
Miscellaneous Farm Insurance Lines
- Close out remaining coverage lines and confirm all five exams are registered and completed
This staggered cadence also protects you from paying for a recorded-course access window that lapses before you're ready. If you're unsure how much score margin you actually need going into each course exam, review AFIS Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass before you set your registration dates.
Key Takeaway
Register for each course exam only after your practice performance on that specific course's material is consistent - don't register for all five up front just to "lock in" dates.
Who Hires AFIS-Credentialed Professionals
Timing your exams isn't just an academic exercise - it usually maps to a hiring or renewal cycle. Agents and account managers working farm and agribusiness books often pursue AFIS to formalize expertise they're already using day to day with farm property, farm liability, and specialty farm lines. If you're weighing whether the time investment across five course exams is worth it for your role, Is the AFIS Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 lays out the considerations, and AFIS Requirements 2026 covers eligibility before you register for your first course.
Whatever your timeline, running practice questions against the actual farm property topics - buildings, contents, tractors, combines, livestock - before you book your first course exam is the single best way to avoid wasting a $169 registration on a course you weren't ready for. You can start building that baseline on the main AFIS practice test platform before locking in any course dates.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. AFIS course exams are delivered on an individual, per-course registration basis through the PIIAC/Big I Nebraska route rather than on a fixed national testing calendar.
Five: Farm Property Insurance, Farm Liability Insurance, Farm Auto/Workers Compensation/Umbrella Insurance, Special Farm Property Insurance Lines, and Miscellaneous Farm Insurance Lines. Each has its own 50-question online exam.
You get three months of recording access, and it can still count toward the designation. However, it does not award the advertised state insurance CE credit that the live delivery format provides.
No. Annual continuing education is required, and the 2026 IRMI AgriCon renewal route allows this to be satisfied with one full conference day or at least five verified sessions - no exam retake is required for that renewal path.
No. Webinar instruction time reflects how long the teaching session runs, not the time limit for the 50-question multiple-choice exam itself. Treat them as separate blocks on your calendar.