Alberta hikes crop insurance premiums 60%: ‘It’s not good news for farmers’ | 24CA News
Farmers should pay extra for crop insurance coverage because the Alberta authorities hikes premiums 60 per cent in its newest price range.
The price range reads that agriculture insurance coverage premium charges are growing 60 per cent “to raise the crop insurance fund balance back to level recommended by actuarial evaluations.”
“It’s not good news for farmers, but it’s something that we shouldn’t be too terribly shocked about either,” John Guelly instructed Global News.
He’s a farmer in Westlock, Alta., about an hour north of Edmonton.
“It’s another cost we’re going to have on the farm here.”
Last yr, crop producers paid a complete of $324 million in insurance coverage premiums.
Depending on the kind of crop, anticipated yield and high quality of the crop, farmers had been paying between an estimated $10 and $50 per acre in premiums.
“We’re insuring bigger crops and they’re costing us way more to produce those crops, but the value of the crops has also gone up so the amount of insurance to float that has certainly gone higher too,” Guelly defined.
The added price from larger insurance coverage charges turns into much more troublesome for farmers as they’re already coping with gas, fertilizer and transportation prices, which proceed to climb.
“We’ve seen our input costs double or triple in a lot of cases over the last couple of years,” he added.
In a press release to Global News, the agriculture and irrigation ministry says the rise is usually on account of elevated prices.
“The 2023 crop insurance premium increase is mainly due to higher crop prices, more producers participating in the insurance program and impacts from the 2021 drought,” its assertion learn.
“Budget 2023 includes an additional $61.4 million to make sure Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC) insurance programs have appropriate funding to support producers during challenging times.”
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The Alberta NDP is asking on the federal government to reverse its choice to hike insurance coverage premiums by 60 per cent.
“Sixty per cent will have a significant impact on producers. It is the biggest input cost that they have to pay on an annual basis. The issue here is that producers don’t know what the amount will be,” Heather Sweet, NDP agriculture critic, stated at a news convention Friday.
“They haven’t been consulted nor have they been notified.
“I’ve been making calls all week in regards to the increase and many of our crop producers weren’t aware that it was happening. So, next month many of them will be looking at purchasing their annual insurance and they’re going to be basically facing a sticker shock because they weren’t told in advance this is even happening.”
For farmers like Guelly, he says the rise is yet one more impediment.
“It’s a matter of just making sure that we can ends meet and hopefully make a profit at the end of the day,” he stated.
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
