Ontario government could expand Agricorp production insurance offerings

Ontario’s ruling Liberals are proposing to possibly expand the list of agricultural products eligible for crop insurance under Agricorp, while the opposition’s agriculture critic is calling for insurance for bees and racing horses.

Agricorp, an Ontario crown corporation, provides coverage for production losses and yield reductions — caused by insured perils — for agricultural crops and perennial plants.

The province’s agriculture, food and rural affairs minister would have the power to designate — by regulation — additional products eligible for coverage, if Bill 40 is passed into law. That bill was tabled Dec. 3 for second reading at Queen’s Park in Toronto.

Currently, the products eligible for production loss coverage by Agricorp include vegetables, fruit and honey, forage and tobacco.

“We do know that farmers, certainly hog farmers, have had their concerns, and they’ve long asked that production insurance – the plans – move beyond just crops and include insurance for other agricultural products,” said Toby Barrett, the Progressive Conservative critic for Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, in the legislature. “The agricultural sector does need production insurance, not just crop insurance,” Barrett said.

“We would develop a potential production insurance plan by working with Agricorp” if Bill 40 is passed into law, said Arthur Potts, MPP for the Toronto riding of Beaches-East York. “We would work with Agricorp and stakeholders to determine the needs of producers for that specific commodity.”

Potts is the parliamentary assistant to Jeff Leal, Ontario’s Liberal Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

In addition to production insurance, Guelph-based Agricorp also covers margin declines caused by any combination of production losses, adverse market conditions or increased costs. Its risk management program — available for the cattle, edible horticulture, grains and oilseeds, hog, sheep and veal sectors — is intended to help producers manage risks such as fluctuating costs and market prices.

During the Bill 40 debate, Potts noted that every province except Ontario “has the authority to offer production insurance plans for agricultural products beyond crops and perennial plants, so expanding production insurance in Ontario would bring us in line with the rest of the provinces.”

Agricorp production insurance costs are shared by the producers and the provincial government and federal governments, Barrett told the legislature.

“The farmer pays 40%, the provincial government contributes 24%, and the federal government contributes 36%,” Barrett said. He added that Bill 40 raises the question of exactly what commodities would be covered.

“We assume beef, cattle; we assume hogs; we assume honey bees,” Barrett said. “I just listened to the Minister of Agriculture, I listened to the parliamentary assistant present this, and there was no mention of bees. There is a need for bee insurance. Mortality insurance for bees – that’s something the government can do.”

He suggested the horse racing industry could also benefit.

“Horse farms have gone bankrupt,” Barrett said, adding he has  “seen the for sale signs up and down” in his riding of Haldimand-Norfolk, a rural area north of the shore of Lake Erie between Long Point and Dunnville. “Horses have been euthanized.”

Potts noted that production insurance first became available in Ontario in the 1960s, after the federal Crop Insurance Act was passed.

“It includes voluntary production, as farmers must choose whether or not to enrol in the program,” Potts said. “They can choose the parameters of the plan that make the most sense for their individual business needs. Production insurance is administered by the province, not the federal government.”