So you think you don’t own a specialty building that needs extra insurance planning? Think again.
Our insurance agent may think you’re a lot more special than you realize. That’s probably not good news, though, at least until you get your coverage adjusted.
Today’s more complicated farms and the insurance sector s evolving fine print mean that standard insurance contracts may not give you the protection that you think you’ve bought.
Yes, a no-frills grain operation, or a small, off-the-rack beef feedlot might not need special consideration, but a pile of farms across the country and probably down your road have more going on than that.
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If your farm specializes in anything from a seed-cleaning operation to riding stables, to a dairy or hog barn, regular farm insurance may not be enough for you.
We do personal or family farms, but we also do business or customized farms, says Shelly Fizer, Western Canada marketing for Canadian Farm Insurance Corp., based in Edmonton.
A standard farm, such as a grain operation or a beef cattle operation or canola production is straightforward, Fizer says. But hogs, dairy and seed-cleaning operations are all considered specialized.
And that’s not where it ends, Fizer says. Once you have other people than family working on your farm, things change.
Even the little extras can move you into the specialized category, Fizer says. Say someone wants to board horses and run a riding stable, and they are bringing in other people s horses onto your farm and teaching riding.
Canada Farm Insurance is one of a number of companies that takes on specialized ag insurance, and it’s used by insurance providers through the countryside.
One example is livestock mortality, says insurance broker Judy Kemp, who along with her husband Kim owns and runs JK Insurance in Cartwright, Man.
On average, we get maybe four or five bulls a year to insure. If you go to a livestock sale, and you spend a lot of money on a bull, you might want to insure that animal for fertility, for example. If we can’t get the coverage through our insurance company in Portage, we would go to Canadian Farm Insurance in Edmonton.
Lots of questions
Canadian Farm Insurance requires that business operators initially fill out an application form so that they can assess what is necessary to keep the business safely insured.
There’s a lot of questions, says Fizer. What kind of heating system is in the buildings? Is it solid fuel, or wood heating? What year was the house built? Is it a detached structure? When was the roof updated? We might need to take photographs.
Something like a hog barn is a little bit harder to insure, because they are more combustible and they break down faster than a regular barn. And you need to think about tools and equipment. If you have a swather or a combine, they should be insured.
Most of this preliminary work is done through the farmer s local broker, such as the Kemps, says Fizer.
Meanwhile, for farmers who don t have the time or background to understand every nuance of every word in an insurance contract, it’s easy to get frustrated.
Shop around for the best insurance price. That s the advice from Roy Arnott, business development specialist for Manitoba Agriculture, Food, and Rural Initiatives (MAFRI) in Killarney.
It’s always up to the consumer to shop around and find the best deal for their requirements, says Arnott. There are some people who essentially don’t see the value in insurance for hail or liability for example, and that is a business decision they have to be comfortable with. That’s the insurance world. But I think most people are fairly cautious with their insurance.
Farmers keep paying
Despite the global recession and chronically poor prices in livestock sectors such as hogs and cattle, farmers don’t appear to be cutting back on insurance. At least, neither Fizer or Kemp have noticed a cutback yet.
We haven’t seen it here yet, that people are buying less insurance, says Kemp. But I think that we might see a change, with cattle prices so poor.
Whether farmers are adequately insured is a different question. You get both some people understand replacement cost, Fizer says. Other people think the price is crazy. CG
