Live Insurance News

Crop insurance claims rapidly rise in Canada

July 9, 2014July 7, 2014 G. Turner

The flooding of farms in Saskatchewan and Manitoba is leading to massive losses of wheat and canola. The Canadian province of Saskatchewan is the largest producer of canola and wheat in the world, but it is currently seeing a massive number of crop insurance claims after its farms have experienced widespread flooding. The province is expecting that the claims will continue as many crops have already been seeded and flooded. According to the Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corp chief executive officer, Shawn Jaques, “It’s a very large area that’s impacted, so…

Crop insurance changes are on their way once again

July 3, 2014July 1, 2014 H. Cutner

The USDA has announced that the farm bill implementation will go ahead with two more updates. According to the USDA, the implementation of the farm bill is continuing forward with new changes that will be made to the crop insurance regulations, which will impact both coverage and the types of options that are available to farmers. The farm bill changes will lead to an increase in the coverage levels for farmers through their insurance. Farmers will be able to obtain more coverage levels through the changes in the crop insurance…

GMO crop maps may soon be drawn in Oregon

June 18, 2014June 18, 2014 Julie Campbell

This could change the way that these farms, and those that neighbor them, gain insurance coverage. Ahead of a vote in May that occurred in southern Oregon in which residents overwhelmingly decided to ban GMO crop use, farmers had already been in negotiations with a biotech company that has been growing these genetically modified organisms in the form of engineered sugar beets that were planted near their farms. The intention had been to come up with a way to be able to coexist peacefully through online mapping. This GMO crop…

Climate change insurance is being scooped up by Chinese farmers

April 28, 2014April 28, 2014 Julie Campbell

Millions of growers have been persuaded by policymakers to cover themselves against losses from this phenomenon. Chinese farmers are more than aware of the damage that extreme weather can cause to a crop, and they are now protecting themselves with climate change insurance in the hopes of reducing the losses that they experience if severe weather should strike. Last year was a lesson that was hard learned by farmers in China, when extreme weather devastated crops. Only weeks before the rice harvest, last summer, paddies were struck by extreme weather…

South Asian Insurance industry suffering massive losses from cyclones

November 28, 2013November 25, 2013 G. Turner

Weather coverage segment may be seeing loss ratios as high as 100 percent. Damage to crops that has occurred as a result of cyclones could be leading to higher loss ratios in the weather South Asian insurance industries, with predictions that they could be as high as 100 percent, this year. Cyclone Phailin has caused a tremendous loss ratio this year when it struck in October. The crop damage that was caused by Cyclone Phailin when it struck the coast of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh early in October may lead…

Crop insurance receives more legislative attention in the US

October 18, 2013October 18, 2013 Marc

Legislators again consider crop insurance reforms Crop insurance in the U.S. is often criticized as being a major financial drain on the federal government. This type of insurance coverage is part of the federal government’s safety net for farmers, which is meant to provide farmers with financial support in the event of natural disasters and to ensure that they have an incentive to produce crops. The country’s crop insurance program has become the target for those seeking reform, with some federal lawmakers suggesting that the program encourages farmers to adopt…

Crop insurance subsidy limits applauded by reformers

October 17, 2013October 18, 2013 Julie Campbell

Those in favor or restrictions of this nature gave their praise to a U.S. House of Representatives vote. Reformers for the crop insurance subsidy gave their approval to a vote that was held by the U.S. House of Representatives that would require the wealthier growers to have to pay more in order to take part in the federally subsidized program. This is also the first time that an eligibility limit has been placed on this highly expensive program. The federal crop insurance program is already costing the country $9 billion…