Agricultural production insurance to cover more crops

Ontario is proposing amendments to the Crop Insurance Act, 1996, that would, if passed, allow more types of agricultural products to be covered by production insurance.

Production insurance is part of a suite of business risk management programs designed to help farmers manage losses due to events like weather, pests and disease. The costs of these programs are predictable, stable and shared by producers and the provincial and federal governments.

“This proposed legislation would, if passed, help meet the needs of our farmers and bring Ontario in line with the rest of Canada. Giving more producers the opportunity to access production insurance will help them better manage risk and encourage greater innovation, profitability and job creation in the agri-food sector.”, said Jeff Leal, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

In 2013, there were more than 14,000 producers insured under Ontario’s Production Insurance program, representing more than five million acres in crop land. Currently, production insurance is available for almost 90 commercially grown crops, including grains, oilseeds and certain fruits and vegetables. However, Ontario is the only province in Canada without the authority to expand production insurance beyond crops to the broader agricultural sector.

If passed, the proposed Agriculture Insurance Act would give Ontario the authority to expand insurance to support the agri-food industry in the event of unexpected loss of production for agriculture products.