Alberta hikes crop insurance premiums 60%: ‘It’s not good news for farmers’
Global News
Farmers are concerned as the United Conservative government increased crop insurance rates by 60 per cent in its latest budget.
Farmers will have to pay more for crop insurance as the Alberta government hikes premiums 60 per cent in its latest budget.
The budget reads that agriculture insurance premium rates are increasing 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 told 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 year, crop producers paid a total of $324 million in insurance premiums.
Depending on the type of crop, expected yield and quality of the crop, farmers were 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 explained.