AgriNews
Latest acquisition boosts Gallagher farm insurance capability
Fri, May 31st 2019On 1 May 2019, the business of AgriRisk Services Pty Ltd became part of the Gallagher family, providing new opportunities and access to an expanded range of insurance products and services for our clients. Read More »
Bushfires New Winter Threat as Drought Worsens
Tue, September 11th 2018The current drought has devastated farmers and their families, and has also led to the worst winter bushfire conditions in a decade. What does this mean for the insurance industry? Read More »
Australia Leads Way On Commercial Rate Rises
Tue, September 11th 2018Unfortunately for customers of commercial insurance, Australia and the UK has led a global rise in premiums during the second quarter of 2018, according to Marsh’s Global Insurance Market Index. Read More »
AgriRisk Reminds Clients to Lodge Travel Insurance Claims
Tue, September 11th 2018A recent survey has found travellers are failing to lodge claims for overseas incidents because they view the process as too laborious, with about 82% saying they had issues with the process. Read More »
Drought Relief Available in the Absence of Insurance
Tue, September 11th 2018With most states in the grip of severe drought, it is disappointing that the insurance market offers very few options for farmers apart from limited Multi-peril Crop Insurance offerings. AgriRisk continue to keep abreast of developments in this sector as certainly there is interest. The hope is still that government may provide some further incentives and subsidies for agricultural risk management. Read More »
Australian Cotton Conference Biggest Ever
Tue, September 11th 2018Almost 2,500 delegates and over 100 exhibitors including AgriRisk gathered on the Gold Coast last month for the 2018 Australian Cotton Conference. The industry came out in record numbers to hear a comprehensive program across many topics relevant to the whole farm business. Read More »
Opportunity to Manage Weather Impacts
Tue, September 11th 2018“You can’t control the weather, but you can manage its financial consequences.” That was the message delivered by AgriRisk’s Norm Trethewey to growers at the recent Australian Cotton Conference on the Gold Coast. Norm’s presentation explained how weather index products may assist growers facing a continuation of current dry conditions. Read More »
Remember in September: A Fuss About Russ in Baralaba
Thu, June 14th 2018AgriRisk is encouraging support for this important, family fun day at “Harcourt”, Baralaba on 22 September, in memory of Detective Senior Constable Russell Sheehan, who took his own life in 2015 after a quiet but determined battle with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Read More »
Frost and Crop Establishment Failure Can Be Covered
Thu, June 14th 2018For clients looking for a more cost effective solution to multi-peril crop insurance, those with a Crop Risk Solutions Hail and Fire policy can also access an option to include the additional perils of Frost and Crop Establishment Failure. Read More »
A Timely Reminder for Broadacre Growers
Thu, June 14th 2018The season is unfortunately not looking promising for our broadacre clients, with dry conditions continuing. A reminder that growers should notify their AgriRisk Account Manager if they have planted, or plan to grow on any new properties. Read More »
A New Travel Insurance Offering from AgriRisk
Thu, June 14th 2018AgriRisk is pleased to advise clients they can now access a competitively priced “best in market” travel insurance policy that can be used for leisure travel, with all the benefits of corporate travel insurance. Read More »
6 Tips on How to Prepare for Storm Damage
Thu, June 14th 2018Each year storms and hail cause property damage and personal injuries worth hundreds of millions of dollars. To help manage these risks, AgriRisk has 6 Tips on things you can do to help protect your family and your property by being pro-active. Read More »
Multi Peril Insurance an Option as Winter Cropping Season Begins
Tue, April 24th 2018With the planting window now open in most regions the majority of our growers are now waiting for sufficient rain to get their crops in and away, an overriding concern for many AgriRisk clients at this point in time. As in previous seasons there has again been lots of marketing activity around Multi Peril Crop Insurance(MPCI). Read More »
Warning to Farmers: Be on the Look Out for Cyber Fraud
Sun, April 15th 2018AgriRisk has recently become aware of a number of instances where farming families were exposed to fraud, all related to the interception and change of bank details on invoices. This is an area of great concern and AgriRisk is supporting clients to reduce their risk through education and vigilance. Read More »
Cotton Grower of the Year Field Day at Darlington Point
Sun, April 15th 2018More than 300 people including AgriRisk’s Dee McCallum and Andrew Smith attended this year’s Cotton Grower of the Year Field Day at Darlington Point in southern NSW on 27 March. Read More »
Check Sums Insured for Cotton
Mon, February 19th 2018With cotton prices up around $550 a bale, AgriRisk is reminding growers to check “sums insured” to ensure the crop's potential income is fully covered. This applies to cotton that's not been sold, and that could be worth more than currently insured for. Read More »
Multi-Peril Crop Insurance Update
Mon, February 19th 2018Multi-Peril Crop Insurance (MPCI) has remained fluid over the few years, with a number of insurers dropping out of the market and some new entrants coming in. MPCI remains a great concept, but a difficult proposition for many farmers as they perceive premiums to be too high, and are confused about what’s on offer. Read More »
AgriRisk Working to Help Eliminate Insurance Stamp Duty in Queensland
Mon, February 19th 2018Following an announcement by the NSW Government last June that farmers in NSW will no longer pay stamp duty on their crop insurance policies, a coordinated lobbying effort is underway to achieve the same for Queensland primary producers. Read More »
Widespread Summer Hail a Timely Reminder
Mon, February 19th 2018Severe and widespread hail in a number of rural areas over the Christmas period has provided a timely reminder that hail cover for summer crops is critical. Read More »
Phil Courtney Retires from Toowoomba Office
Mon, February 19th 2018After 5 years as an Account Manager with AgriRisk, Phil Courtney has retired. Read More »
Nominations Open for 2018 Australian Cotton Industry Awards
Mon, February 19th 2018Nominations have opened for the 2018 Australian Cotton Industry Awards, which recognise excellence and high achievement throughout the supply chain. Read More »
Cotton Spray Drift – Are You Covered?
Mon, February 19th 2018Many cotton crops have been hit hard with phenoxy herbicide spray drift this year, with reports of widespread damage in the Macquarie Valley, Darling Downs and Northern and Southern NSW. Cotton Australia estimates more than 30,000ha of cotton has been damaged. Read More »
Broadacre Season Underway – Time to Start Thinking About Crop Cover
Thu, August 3rd 2017Following last season’s wet start, AgriRisk’s grower clients are this year reporting a struggle with a lack of rainfall hampering efforts to get the crop away. This is certainly disappointing given the current high prices available for some crop types such as chickpeas. Read More »
AgriRisk High Achiever of the Year Announced at the 2017 Australian Cotton Industry Awards
Thu, August 3rd 2017For over 15 years AgriRisk has sponsored the AgriRisk High Achiever of the Year Award, to recognise excellence and innovation in cotton production. AgriRisk’s Dee McCallum made this year’s announcement before more than 380 cotton growers and industry representatives gathered in Griffith last week. Read More »
Multi Peril Crop Insurance 2017
Thu, August 3rd 2017This season again saw a large number of insurers offering Multi Peril Crop Insurance (MPCI) products this season, although AgriRisk understands the number of growers purchasing the cover reduced this year primarily due to rainfall in the early part of the planting window. Read More »
Huge Turn-out to Cotton Collective in Griffith
Thu, August 3rd 2017The cotton industry last week took its Cotton Collective event on the road to the newer cotton growing region of southern NSW. More than 500 cotton growers from across Queensland and NSW flocked to Griffith to discuss issues of importance facing the industry, hold a trade show and celebrate the Australian Cotton Industry Awards. Read More »
Crop Insurance Made Cheaper Due to Abolition of Stamp Duty
Thu, August 3rd 2017Farmers in NSW will no longer pay stamp duty on their crop insurance policies, following an announcement by the NSW Government in June. AgriRisk has welcomed the move that will mean a saving of the 2.5% currently levied on premiums and GST on crop insurance policies. Read More »
Congratulations to the AgriRisk Cotton High Achievers of the Year
Sat, October 8th 2016More than 1000 cotton growers and industry representatives gathered to celebrate the recipients of the 2016 Australian Cotton Industry Awards, including the winner of the AgriRisk High Achiever of the Year. Tim and Roger Commins from “Tiralee”, Whitton NSW were the deserved winners, with AgriRisk’s Dee McCallum presenting the Award on the Gold Coast. Read More »
Tree Crop Growers Urged to Cover Up
Thu, October 6th 2016Tree crop growers are in a unique position in that they have permanent plantings that take many years before crop returns exceed the annual costs of maintaining the trees. On top of that, the business is highly capital intensive in terms of both tree and infrastructure establishment and ongoing orchard management. According to AgriRisk Managing Director John van der Vegt these factors create quite unique challenges for growers looking to manage their risk with insurance. “Of course your most important asset is your trees – they are income producing and a loss of trees at any age will have an immediate impact on future production and revenues. Interestingly, many growers aren’t aware of their insurance options or simply assume that not much can happen to their trees – and the industry is chronically under-insured,” Mr van der Vegt said. Read More »
2016 Australian Cotton Industry Awards finalists announced
Thu, June 9th 2016Finalists have been announced for the 2016 Australian Cotton Industry Awards, now in its 13th year – with AgriRisk continuing its support as a foundation sponsor. Read More »
Cotton Season Hampered by Widespread Hail Events
Thu, June 9th 2016The 2015-16 cotton season surprised many growers with high yields and exceptional quality. This followed a number of extreme hail events during the season, including at the less-than-ideal time during the Automatic Temporary Cover period. Unfortunately many of these crops couldn’t be replanted. Read More »
More Support Needed for Multi-Peril Crop Insurance
Thu, June 9th 2016Despite huge media hype, AgriRisk expects interest in multi-peril crop insurance to further weaken this year, due in part to a lack of government support and difficulties understanding the products on offer. As a broker, AgriRisk has access to a wide range of MPCI products and insurers, and has taken the time to explain the options to growers. Despite this, and rebates announced in the Federal Government’s Agriculture White Paper, AgriRisk understands that only 250 MPCI policies were purchased out of a potential market of 25,000 growers last year. Read More »
How Last Broadacre Season Will Affect the One About to Start
Thu, June 9th 2016From an insurers point of view, last broadacre season was one to forget, with unprecedented market competition, a massive chickpea crop, unprecedented fire levels and higher than normal hail activity. Read More »
How Last Broadacre Season Will Affect the One About to Start
Thu, June 2nd 2016From an insurers point of view, last broadacre season was one to forget, with unprecedented market competition, a massive chickpea crop, unprecedented fire levels and higher than normal hail activity. What does that all mean to you, the client? According to AgriRisk Managing Director John van der Vegt “on the plus side, a new insurer entering the market (Achmea) drove insurance rates down.” Read More »
Finalists Announced in Australian Cotton Industry Awards
Wed, July 22nd 2015AgriRisk is a foundation sponsor of the Australian Cotton Industry Awards, with finalists recently announced in five categories. The Awards celebrate excellence, innovation and leadership throughout the industry's supply chain from growers and ginners to product suppliers, consultants, agronomists, researchers and extension teams. Read More »
Staff Profile: Anna Holland
Wed, July 22nd 2015Anna Holland is one of AgriRisk’s newest recruits. Based in the Sydney Head Office, Anna specialises in tailoring risk solutions for corporate agribusinesses and large farming enterprises. Read More »
Broadacre Product Training for Staff
Wed, July 22nd 2015As part of its ongoing commitment to quality service and excellence, AgriRisk staff participate in annual product training for all major product areas. In early July, 12 staff from all 3 offices completed intensive broadacre training to make sure they’re aware of policy changes for this season and how they may affect clients. Read More »
Time to Consider Broadacre Crop Insurance
Wed, July 22nd 2015With some decent rainfall across many of the broadacre regions in recent weeks, these winter crops have had a good start. If you haven’t already, now is the time to lock in your broadacre insurance to protect these crops against perils like hail and fire. Read More »
Bird Flu Outbreak in the U.S. – What Can We Learn from it Here in Australia?
Wed, July 22nd 2015An outbreak of bird flu in Minnesota and Iowa in the U.S. has resulted in the forced destruction of 48 million birds which has had a massive impact on the poultry industry in the worst affected states. Read More »
Federal Government Agriculture White Paper Includes Insurance Support for Farmers
Wed, July 22nd 2015In a bid to help farmers manage climate variability and drought, the recently released Agriculture White Paper includes $30 million in grants over 4 years, for farmers to evaluate and assess MPCI and parametric crop insurance products that can be used to manage drought and climate risk. Read More »
Multi-peril Crop Insurance Update
Wed, July 22nd 2015We have been spoilt for choice with broadacre Multi Peril Crop Insurance (MPCI) products this season including; • Latevo underwritten by Assetinsure. • CropSure underwritten by Lloyds • PrimeGuard underwritten by Allianz Australia • ProCrop underwritten by CGU Read More »
Update on Multi-Peril Insurance
Mon, March 30th 2015You may have noticed the recent media hype regarding Multi Peril Crop Insurance (MPCI). This is a little surprising given less than 50 MPCI policies were purchased by growers Australia-wide last season. Not withstanding the low policy numbers it is certainly encouraging to see Government and lobby groups recognising there is a strong need for some sort of insurance solution to manage the financial consequences of broadacre production variability in Australia. Read More »
AgriRisk Now Offering Insurance for the Poultry Industry
Mon, March 30th 2015AgriRisk Services is continually looking at ways to insure against risks in the rural sector, and can now offer the poultry industry a comprehensive product to cover sheds and the birds themselves for a variety of perils. Read More »
Cotton – Do you really need insurance?
Thu, July 24th 2014Every year a number of growers question whether they really need insurance, often arguing that with Bollgard cotton the crop will recover and yield loss will be minimal, even if exposed to hail damage. There are a number of other important considerations, however. Read More »
Now That’s a Bonus! AgriRisk Helps Win Major Claim
Thu, July 24th 2014Back in 2010, one of AgriRisk’s large plantation owners suffered a loss. The insurers paid the claim in full, however left our client out of pocket on a six figure excess. The cause of the fire was identified to be a utilities company operating close to the affected plantation. Read More »
AgriRisk Set to Trial a Yield Shield Product for the Cereal Crop Supply Chain
Thu, July 24th 2014As you may know AgriRisk have also been involved in the Multi Peril Crop Insurance (MPCI) saga. More than a decade ago we identified that moisture was the key peril for cereal crop growers, accounting for approximately 80% of yield variability. The point being that if MPCI wasn’t going to get off the ground in Australia then we should focus on a product relating to moisture. Read More »
Farm Accidents Leave Some Workers Without Insurance Protection
Thu, July 24th 2014A 2013 Work Safe Australia Report confirms what we already know - farming is a risky business. One in six workers killed in Australia were working on a farm, despite the fact that farm workers made up less than 1% of the workforce. Less than half of these workers are covered by workers compensation insurance because they are self employed, leaving life insurance as the only financial protection for their families. Read More »
Finalists Announced in the AgriRisk Innovative Grower of the Year Award
Thu, July 24th 2014Finalists have been announced for the 2014 Australian Cotton Industry Awards, with recipients to be announced at a gala dinner to mark the culmination of the Australian Cotton Conference next week. AgriRisk has sponsored these awards since their inception 11 years ago, to celebrate excellence, innovation & leadership across the whole cotton supply chain. Read More »
Staff Reach An Important Milestone
Thu, July 24th 2014Two of our staff, John Anderson our Financial Controller based in Sydney and Sally Vuk an Account Manager in Tamworth celebrated their 10 year milestones with AgriRisk in May. In this day and age of mobile work, this is a remarkable achievement and we thank them both very much for the wonderful contribution they have made to our business during this time. Read More »
AgriRisk Celebrates 25 Years in Agriculture
Mon, May 5th 2014In April this year AgriRisk celebrated its 25th Birthday, with a commitment to the original purpose of the business a quarter of a century ago. Founded by John van der Vegt and Steve Green in 1989, this milestone endorses AgriRisk’s belief that our clients are best served by brokers committed to the rural sector. This specialisation was the foundation of our business on day one and still underpins the business 25 years laters. Read More »
Crop Insurance Update: May 2014
Mon, May 5th 2014AgriRisk provides a brief snapshot of seasonal crops and how the insurance season shaped up. Read More »
Two New Options for Multi Peril Crop Insurance Become Available
Mon, May 5th 2014Much has been said lately in the media about Multi Peril Crop Insurance (MPCI). This is despite AgriRisk’s continued belief that a viable, broad based MPCI program requires significant government support, which at this stage hasn’t been forthcoming. Interestingly two products have entered the market to try to assist cereal crop growers in managing their production risks. Read More »
Newcomer Joins the Rural Insurance Market
Mon, May 5th 2014Netherlands-based insurer Achmea has obtained a licence to operate in Australia, with plans to distribute a Farmpack policy through regional risk specialists in conjunction with Rabobank. Achmea is the largest general and health insurer in the Netherlands and with a strong rural background, it’ll be interesting to see how this new insurer fairs in what’s been a very difficult market. Read More »
Merger Creates General Insurance Giant
Mon, May 5th 2014There have been some major recent developments in the general insurance market, including IAG’s purchase of Wesfarmers Underwriting Businesses. The Wesfarmers sale, worth $1.845 billion, has just been granted ACCC approval. Read More »
Two Crop Specialist Underwriting Agencies to Amalgamate
Mon, July 1st 2013The two largest specialist crop insurance underwriting agencies operating in Australia and New Zealand, Primacy and Agricola, are set to merge as Allianz complete the purchase of the remaining shares in both agencies in July this year. Read More »
Why Haven’t We Seen Multi Peril Crop Insurance in Australia?
Mon, July 1st 2013AgriRisk clients have always shown great interest in Multi Peril Crop Insurance (MPCI) that is available in a number of other countries, but not here in Australia. Read More »
Significant Machinery Assets Continue to Be Difficult to Insure
Mon, July 1st 2013The Rural Insurance market remains tight in terms of the number of insurers committed to the market but competitive for risks that have performed well. Read More »
Broadacre Training in Tamworth Keeps Staff Product Knowledge Ahead of the Pack
Mon, July 1st 2013AgriRisk prides itself on its staff having product knowledge above and beyond its competitors, and invests in annual training to ensure the team knows the ins and outs of all products available. Read More »
Another New Insurer on Board With AgriRisk
Mon, July 1st 2013AgriRisk recently gained access to Rural Affinity’s range of crop and farm insurance products - no other insurance broker has greater access to the specialist crop insurers. Read More »
Uncommitted Cotton in the Gin Yard – Are You Covered?
Mon, July 1st 2013At this time of year many AgriRisk clients become concerned about the insurance arrangements on uncommitted cotton stored in ginning organisation’s gin yards. Read More »
Follow AgriRisk on LinkedIn
Mon, July 1st 2013AgriRisk has this month launched a company LinkedIn page as an additional method of communicating with clients and the agriculture sector. Connect with us at www.linkedin.com/agririsk Read More »
AgriRisk Visits Australian Cotton Trade Show
Mon, July 1st 2013The biannual Australian Cotton Trade Show was held on the 29-30 May in Moree, with AgriRisk staff out in force to show their support for this industry showcase. Read More »
Phenomenal Dryland Cotton Yields Highlights Insurance Risk
Mon, July 1st 2013Many AgriRisk clients achieved extraordinary yields on their dryland crops this season, with some yielding close to 12 bales/hectare. These results are well above expectations and highlight a particular issue for growers in terms of ensuring adequate hail insurance coverage. Read More »
Finalists in the 2013 Australian Cotton Industry Awards Announced
Mon, July 1st 2013Finalists were announced in the 2013 Australian Cotton Industry Awards by AgriRisk Managing Director John van der Vegt at the Cotton Trade Show in Moree last month. Read More »
Tickets on Sale for Australian Cotton Industry Awards, “Celebrating a Decade of Success”
Mon, July 1st 2013The Australian Cotton Industry Awards are held to recognise our industry’s highest achievers and celebrate another great cotton season. AgriRisk is again a main sponsor of the High Achiever category. Read More »
Broadacre Renewals Coming Up
Mon, July 1st 2013Some late rain looks to have saved the day for many of AgriRisk’s broadacre clients who are now busy finalising winter cereal crop plantings. Prices look relatively solid so we are looking for a kind season, weatherwise, and hopefully some solid yields and revenues. Read More »
STAFF PROFILE - PHIL COURTNEY
Wed, March 27th 2013Phil has joined the AgriRisk team in Toowoomba where his main roles are generating new sales and servicing clients in the general and crop insurance areas. Read More »
AGRIRISK ON THE MOVE
Wed, March 27th 2013In the last 12 months AgriRisk have made some changes to their regional presence, expanding in some areas. Read More »
NEW CORPORATE WEBSITE LAUNCHED
Wed, March 27th 2013AgriRisk has upgraded its corporate website, with a faster user-interface, direct access to our specialists and all the information you need to make decisions about the right rural insurance mix for your business. Read More »
DERIVATIVES TO THE RESCUE - ALMOST!
Wed, March 27th 2013AgriRisk was getting increasingly concerned about the dry conditions prevailing across most cereal crop growing regions in the eastern states. A lack of rainfall during last six months had left most growers with poor soil moisture conditions which would have impacted on their ability to plant a winter cereal crop. Read More »
STEADFAST TO LIST
Wed, March 27th 2013As you may know AgriRisk is a shareholder in Steadfast Limited, Australia’s largest insurance broking network with more than 280 members managing a combined $4.1 billion in premiums annually. Read More »
AGRIRISK CHALKS UP A DECADE OF SUPPORT FOR THE COTTON AWARDS
Wed, March 27th 2013Despite a number of years of drought, AgriRisk has continuously sponsored the Australian Cotton Industry Awards since their inception in 2003. Celebrating a decade of success this year, Awards will be granted in five categories including the AgriRisk High Achiever of the Year. Read More »
AN UPDATE ON THE INSURANCE MARKET
Thu, March 21st 2013AgriRisk keeps its clients informed of changes in the various insurance markets, along with information about how the wider picture may affect their business. Read More »
A WORD FROM JOHN
Thu, March 21st 2013AgriRisk is delivering its first email edition of AgriNews. Read More »
Back to Back Record Australian Cotton Crops
Tue, August 21st 2012Continuing the remarkable post drought resurgence for Australian cotton, the industry is now predicting this year’s national harvest will be the largest ever recorded, around 4.8 million bales. Read More »
The General Insurance Market – Why Are Farmpack Premiums On the Rise?
Tue, August 21st 2012Over the last six months we have seen the rural insurance market “harden” quite significantly, resulting in Farmpack Insurance becoming more expensive to purchase and in some cases difficult to obtain. Read More »
AgriRisk Joins the Cotton Awards Farm Judging Tour
Tue, August 21st 2012Judges including AgriRisk’s Deidre McCallum last month completed field visits of six outstanding farms for the Australian Cotton Industry Awards. Read More »
Hot Issues For The Insurance Market
Mon, August 20th 2012• Debate over a common definition for “flood” to overcome the different definitions currently adopted by various Australian insurers. Read More »
New Product Leaders Appointed
Fri, August 17th 2012AgriRisk has recently set up a new internal structure to better reflect the specialities within the business, playing to key staff’s strengths and experience. Read More »
AgriRisk Can Insure Greenhouses
Wed, August 15th 2012The greenhouse market in Australia is very specialised, in fact most general insurers will not insure glasshouse structures or crops – but AgriRisk has been working on a plan to change all that. Read More »
Why Choose a Broker
Mon, August 13th 2012Over the years AgriRisk has found that some clients haven’t realised that AgriRisk is in fact an insurance broker, rather than an insurance company. Read More »
Reminder About Broadacre Crop Coverage
Thu, August 9th 2012Broadacre growers are reminded that the time is right to insure your winter cereal crops. Commodity prices are increasing and most regions are off to a great start with full moisture profiles. Read More »
Can Products Based on Weather Statistics Provide a Solution?
Fri, March 30th 2012Farmers are exposed to a variety of perils which can significantly impact on their revenues and their livelihoods. Read More »
The Insurance Market
Thu, March 22nd 2012Insurance premiums in Australia have generally started to increase, due to higher re-insurance costs as a direct result of natural catastrophes over the last 12 months in Australia and poor underwriting performance. Read More »
Insurance for AgriBusiness Professionals Now Available
Mon, March 19th 2012Agririsk Has Expanded Its Services To Offer Professional Indemnity and Management Liability Insurance to professionals working in agribusiness. Read More »
AgriRisk Office Opened in the Macquarie
Fri, March 16th 2012Cotton and broadacre growers in the Macquarie can now visit AgriRisk, with an office opened on one of the main streets to provide a ‘face’ for the organisation. Read More »
Steadfast Partnership Means Bigger Benefits for AgriRisk Clients
Thu, March 15th 2012Did you know that AgriRisk is a shareholder of the Steadfast Group — Australia’s largest insurance broking cluster group, generating in excess of $2.5 billion in premium turnover, through 280 broking firms, operating out of 400 offices across Australia. Read More »