Fields with higher soil organic matter are more resilient during drought, and since dry conditions result in half of crop insurance payouts, it’s worth considering whether organic matter should be a factor when calculating premiums, says Stuart Chutter, a product coordinator with Agriculture Financial Services Corporation.

Should soil organic matter be a factor in insurance premiums?

Research, including a study here, has found higher organic matter reduces drought impact

Reading Time: 4 minutes Farmers may one day see lower crop insurance premiums if they have high levels of organic matter in their soil. A study by the Agriculture Financial Services Corporation found that farms with higher soil organic matter have better yields and lower crop insurance claims. In the region between Edmonton and Red Deer, AFSC researchers divided fields according […] Read more

Insurance available for lightning and fire damage

Insurance available for lightning and fire damage

Annual crop or hay fields insured under Straight Hail Insurance have the same spot-loss coverage as Hail Endorsement

Reading Time: < 1 minute It’s summertime in Alberta, and with the season comes an increased potential for volatile storm activity. Depending on your insurance coverage with Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC), you may have protection against losses related to lightning strikes and accidental fires. “Agriculture is filled with unpredictable events, including the weather,” said Ken Handford, senior product co-ordinator. […] Read more


AFSC used this photo when tweeting on social media about its rate announcement for this year. The ominous look mirrors the financial news — premiums up 37 per cent or more, and its once-vaunted reserve fund slashed by $2 billion.

Premiums soar after crop insurer hit by $2.7-billion loss

Higher crop prices are driving a big part of the 37 per cent (or higher) hike, but drought hit hard, too

Reading Time: 4 minutes The cost of annual crop insurance is soaring by an average of more than 37 per cent this year — and many farmers could be facing an even higher bill. “An average 1,500-acre Alberta farm growing a mixture of crops will see increased premium costs of approximately 54 per cent for annual insurance and hail […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Saskatchewan budget aims to spur ag investment

Potash, crude oil resource revenues help cut deficit

Sweetening existing tax credits on big-ticket investments, and setting up a new Crown corporation to support Indigenous investors, are among the items expected to help encourage new value-added ag projects in Saskatchewan’s latest budget. Provincial Finance Minister Donna Harpauer on Wednesday released her 2022-23 budget with $17.6 billion in expenditures on $17.2 billion in revenues, […] Read more


(Lightguard/iStock/Getty Images)

Saskatchewan pushes crop insurance deadline to mid-April

'Logistical challenges' led to extension

Saskatchewan farmers will get an extra couple of weeks to apply for, cancel, reinstate or change their crop insurance contracts for 2022, due to holdups in the delivery of their application packages. That deadline, originally March 31, has now been extended to April 14, provincial Ag Minister David Marit and his federal counterpart Marie-Claude Bibeau […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Saskatchewan forage rainfall insurance to adjust for hot spells

SCIC also expanding crop roster for contract price option

Saskatchewan forage and corn growers whose crops are insured against below-normal rainfall can expect a beneficial bump starting this year if those crops get cooked in high heat. The Saskatchewan and federal governments on Tuesday announced details for their 2022 crop insurance program — under which average coverage is expected to reach $405 per acre, […] Read more


A restoration company vehicle sits in a flooded field at Abbotsford, B.C. on Nov. 30, 2021. (Photo: Reuters/Jennifer Gauthier)

AgriRecovery underway for flood-battered B.C. farms

Feds, province put up $228 million

The federal and British Columbia governments’ response to last fall’s destructive flooding now includes what’s said to be the biggest farm disaster recovery package in the province’s history. Provincial Agriculture Minister Lana Popham and her federal counterpart Marie-Claude Bibeau on Monday announced cost-shared funding of $228 million for the Canada-B.C. Flood Recovery for Food Security […] Read more

Jason Saunders’ crop of winter wheat doesn’t look too bad but yielded only one-third of normal, and it would have been worse but for a good start to the growing season. The Taber-area producer was one of more than 8,000 farmers who filed a crop insurance claim—a record for Agriculture Financial Services Corporation.

Premium discount for crop insurance being axed following record payout

After paying out $1.5 billion for crop losses last year, insurer says 20 per cent reduction won’t continue

Reading Time: 4 minutes Alberta’s crop insurer will pay out a record amount in claims — and that means the 20 per cent premium discount is being scrapped. Eleven months ago, Agriculture Financial Services Corporation announced it was not only cutting premiums by one-fifth, but would keep the discount for five years barring a “significant wreck.” But that’s exactly […] Read more


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 […] Read more

Hail payouts exceed premiums in 2021

Hail payouts exceed premiums in 2021

Reading Time: < 1 minute It was a near-record year for claims in Western Canada “despite a decrease in overall storm activity,” says the Canadian Crop Hail Association. Claim payments to Prairie farmers topped $322 million, and were up 78 per cent compared to the five-year average. It was the highest payout since 2008 and meant insurers, which collected $309 […] Read more