derek johnson

AgriInsurance coverage expected to rise in 2023

Crop insurance amendments laid out at Ag Days in Brandon

AgriInsurance coverage is expected to reach $5.3 billion in 2023, up from the $4.7 billion projected last spring, the provincial ag minister announced at Manitoba Ag Days in Brandon on Tuesday. “The costs and risks related to farming in Manitoba continue to climb,” Agriculture Minister Derek Johnson said in a release. Average coverage is estimated

“During this time of high interest rates, it’s becoming more imperative for producers to use low-interest financing tools.” – Syeda Khurram.

Farmers cash in on interest-free loans

This summer the federal government upped the interest-free portion of the Advance Payments Program

Manitoba administrators of the Advance Payments Program say clients are making use of the increased interest-free portion and borrowing more money. “The amount of the advances have [increased] significantly,” said Randy Ozunko, who manages the program for the Manitoba Pork Council. The APP is federally funded and administered by producer groups. It offers up to


File photo of an Ontario cherry orchard. (UpdogDesigns/iStock/Getty Images)

Ontario to extend labour-related crop loss coverage

Losses due to COVID-19-related labour disruptions covered

A temporary crop insurance expansion that covers Ontario farms against crop losses due to “on-farm labour disruptions” caused by COVID-19 will be held over for yet another year. Agricorp, the province’s farm program delivery agency, announced in late December the feature first introduced in 2020 will be included again in 2022, at the same coverage

Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau, shown here with Craig Riese (l) of Keystone Agricultural Producers and Manitoba Beef Producers president Tyler Fulton, speaks on July 22, 2021 at The Forks in Winnipeg. (Dave Bedard photo)

Tax deferrals, crop insurance changes en route against drought

Assessments underway for AgriRecovery, minister says

Updated — As the federal government looks to manage impacts of ongoing drought conditions in Canada’s West, producers in parts of five provinces can already expect to be eligible for the livestock tax deferral program. Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau announced Thursday in Winnipeg that producers in drought-designated areas of southern Alberta, southeastern British Columbia, northwestern


How to switch your crop to alternate use

The AgriInsurance program provides flexibility for producers to put their crop to alternate use during the growing season. Alternate use means a change to the use of a crop from what was originally intended when planting in the spring. For example, if you indicated on your Seeded Acreage Report that you were growing oats for

AFSC CEO Darryl Kay announced a 20 per cent cut in farmers’ AgriInsurance premiums for the 2021 crop year on Jan. 25. (AFSC video screengrab via YouTube)

Alberta crop insurer taps reserve to cut premiums

AFSC to pare premiums by 20 per cent

The reserve at Alberta’s Crown crop insurance agency will be tapped to offset the premiums charged to farmers for the 2021 crop year, and possibly for longer. The province’s Agriculture Financial Services Corp. (AFSC) said Monday its farmer customers will get a 20 per cent discount on crop insurance premiums this year — which on


File photo of an Ontario cherry orchard. (UpdogDesigns/iStock/Getty Images)

Ontario extends lost-labour production insurance

COVID-related coverage held over for 2021 program year

A temporary expansion of Ontario’s AgriInsurance program, to cover losses caused by COVID-19-related short-handedness on the farm, will be held over. The province and federal government on Dec. 22 announced the expansion of coverage will be extended to cover the 2021 program year — and that it will insure production of “additional commodities.” Further details

Manitoba producers who use silage can now 
get crop insurance, something the Manitoba 
Beef Producers has long sought.

Provincial forage AgriInsurance gets upgrade

Livestock producers are getting their wish on how MASC anticipates corn silage yields, among other announcements

Livestock producers relying on corn silage will soon be able to lock in insurance based on personal production history. On Oct. 16, Manitoba Agriculture and Resource Development Minister Blaine Pedersen announced individual productivity indexing (IPI) for silage corn, among a list of other feed crop insurance changes incoming for 2021. Until now, MASC has based


(Scott Bauer photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Ontario to insure for crop loss due to lack of labour

AgriInsurance offering hailed as a first in Canada

Ontario’s federal/provincial AgriInsurance program has been temporarily expanded to include coronavirus-related labour shortages as a covered cause for crop loss. Producers already enrolled in an eligible production insurance plan and hit by crop losses due to labour disruptions during the 2020 growing season will be able to get further insurance coverage, the Ontario and federal

(Dave Bedard photo)

Insurance customers’ contact info dropped into MASC email

Crown crop insurance agency warns of privacy breach

A contact list of crop insurance customers at Manitoba Agricultural Services Corp. has gone out via email to several dozen of the Crown ag insurance agency’s customers. MASC on Monday said a file containing names and contact information of an unspecified number of AgriInsurance clients was “attached in error” to an email sent last Tuesday