Manitoba AgriInsurance Coverage Highest on Record

Feb 11, 2021

Winnipeg, Manitoba – Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada - As the 2021 AgriInsurance contract will soon be released to Manitoba farmers, Canada’s Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Marie-Claude Bibeau, and Manitoba Agriculture and Resource Development Minister Blaine Pedersen announced that coverage is expected to be the highest on record while premium rates are moderately lower than last year.

The ministers released details indicating that 2021 dollar values are mostly higher than 2020 dollar values for grain, oilseeds, and specialty crops. Total insurance coverage will reach an all-time high of $3.128 billion.

On average, AgriInsurance premium rates are lower than 2020 due to adding a low loss year (2019) and removing a higher loss year (1994) from the 25-year average base rate calculation. AgriInsurance is a risk management program administered by Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation (MASC). Insurance is offered for over 80 different annual crops and forages during establishment and production.

Manitoba has a high level of AgriInsurance participation with nearly 90 per cent of annual crop acres enrolled and more than 7,800 farms registered in the program.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.