The Honourable Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Manitoba Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn announced details of the 2025 Agri-Insurance program, administered by Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation (MASC) today.
“Farmers in Manitoba are known for delivering top-quality products to Canadians and the world,” said MacAulay. “It’s vitally important that they have access to flexible risk management programs to help them protect their operations, so they can keep meeting the demand for the products they produce.”
After a lower-than-average claim year in 2024, Manitoba farmers will benefit from lower premium rates for most insurable crops in 2025. For annual crops, the average premium will be $32.52 per acre in 2025 compared to $38.57 per acre in 2024.
MASC calculates premium rates using methodologies that are reviewed and approved by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC). Volatility in global commodity markets continues to impact AgriInsurance dollar values for the 2025 season. Some crops such as flax and field peas will have higher dollar values.
For the majority of crops, however, dollar values are lower than in 2024 based on market forecasts. Total coverage for 2025 is expected to be $4.2 billion.
“As a farmer for many years, I understand the importance of knowing your coverage and costs as you plan for the next growing season,” said Kostyshyn. “We’re happy to offer coverage at affordable rates for Manitoba farmers through the Agri-Insurance program so they can confidently plan for the upcoming crop year.”
MASC is further enhancing the Agri-Insurance program by adding birdsfoot trefoil as an eligible crop for Forage Establishment Insurance and expanding the boundaries for Grain Corn Area 1 and incorporating Grain Corn Insurance Test Area (ITA) as Grain Corn Area 5.
The Wildlife Damage Compensation program is also being enhanced by increasing the maximum value used to calculate livestock predation claims from $3,000 to $7,000 per animal.
The Agri-Insurance program is a risk management tool for Manitoba farmers to protect against production shortfalls and quality losses caused by natural perils.
In the case of extreme weather events that impact production such as drought or excess moisture, the Agri-Insurance program provides predictable coverage producers can depend on when planning for the upcoming growing season.
Manitoba has a high level of Agri-Insurance participation, with over 90 per cent of annual crop acres and more than 7,400 farms enrolled in the program.
Agri-Insurance 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).
For more information, contact any MASC Service Centre or go to masc.mb.ca.
Please listen to more with Ron Kostyshyn below.
(from the files of Adi Loewen)