Bees to be added to Ontario's production insurance coverage

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

by SUSAN MANN

The Ontario government is proposing to add bees to its current list of 90 commercially produced crops in the province eligible for production insurance.

The proposal to add bees is part of the government’s posting on the Regulatory Registry seeking comment on other new products that could be covered by the insurance. Comments are due by August 16.

“The proposal to add bees is a sign of the government’s commitment to make production insurance more widely available to Ontario farmers,” the proposal says.

Production insurance, formerly called crop insurance, covers farmers’ production losses and yield reductions caused by insured perils, such as weather, disease and pests. Premium costs are cost-shared by farmers and the provincial and federal governments, the proposal says.

Agricorp spokesperson Stephanie Charest says Ontario farmers pay 40 per cent of the premium for production insurance, while the federal and provincial governments pay 60 per cent. The two levels of government also pay all of the administration costs for production insurance.

Agricorp delivers a variety of programs and payments to Ontario farmers on behalf of the provincial and federal governments, including production insurance, Ontario’s business risk management program, Growing Forward 2 risk management programs and others.

In Ontario, new products in addition to crops and perennial plants can now be added to the list for insurance coverage because the government passed legislation in May, called the Agriculture Insurance Act, enabling other agricultural products to be covered.

Once the Act is proclaimed the government can implement a permanent production insurance plan for beekeepers, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs spokesperson Susin Micallef says by email.

As for livestock, she says the government will work with producers “to explore the expansion of production insurance where there is demand from industry to do so.”

So far, Ontario hog producers have said they’re interested in developing a hog mortality insurance product, she says. Discussions at the national level are being held to determine how that can be done.

Micallef says Ontario’s regulatory registry posting enables farmers to propose new products that can be eligible for production insurance.

The province’s new production insurance legislation will even make it possible for producers of supply-managed commodities, dairy, poultry and eggs, to be eligible for insurance. Micallef says once changes to the Act have been proclaimed, the “government will have the authority to create insurance plans for supply-managed livestock.” But under federal regulations, supply managed commodities are not eligible for the “federal cost-share on premiums or administrative costs” and that “may impact affordability,” she says. BF