Manitoba farmers will pay less in crop insurance premiums for most crops in 2024 compared to a year earlier.
Details of Manitoba’s AgriInsurance program released by the federal and provincial governments on Tuesday revealed that for annual crops, producers can expect to pay an average premium of $16.21/acre in 2024 compared to $19.21 in 2023.
Overall, the insurance program will provide farmers with nearly $5 billion in coverage on an estimated 9.55 million acres for the upcoming crop year, the release added. That compares to a year earlier when total AgriInsurance coverage was estimated at $5.3 billion on 9.45 million acres.
“Continued volatility in global commodity markets” has impacted AgriInsurance dollar values for the 2024 season, said a joint federal-provincial release. Some crops such as dry beans, forage seeds, potatoes, vegetables, and forages will have higher dollar values. For most crops, however, dollar values are lower than in 2023.
Manitoba has a high level of AgriInsurance participation, with over 90% of annual crop acres and more than 7,650 farms enrolled in the program.
AgriInsurance is a federal-provincial-producer cost-shared program that helps producers manage production and quality losses. Support for the program is provided by the governments of Canada and Manitoba under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (Sustainable CAP).
New for the 2024 AgriInsurance year is a pilot program designed to meet the needs of small-scale vegetable producers. The program will enable these producers to bundle eligible crops to meet acreage minimums so they can adequately insure a variety of their vegetable crops.