Farmers Forum staff

GUELPH — The 2024 harvest was outstanding with record-breaking average Ontario corn yields and record-matching soybean yields, according to Agricorp, the provincial crop insurance provider.

But there are always exceptions in a bountiful year: Claims paid out on the big three field commodity crops — corn, soybeans and wheat — totalled just over $60.8 million, or about 1.9 % of the total coverage taken out on those Ontario crops last year.

Agricorp enrollees otherwise reported average corn yields of 204 bushels per acre in 2024, well above the 10-year average of 186 bu/ac. Soybean yields averaged 53 bushels per acre. The 10-year soybean yield average is 48 bu/ac.

Agricorp insured nearly $4.6 billion in commodities and paid just under $115 million in claims to farmers in 2024. This is a higher payout than 2023 when farmers collected just short of $107 million on more than $4.9 billion of crop value insured with Agricorp that year.

Payouts in 2024 were attributed to unseeded acreage ($20 million), replanting ($11 million), production falling below the guaranteed level ($65 million), and other claims ($17 million).

Leading the province in insurance claims were Corn ($30.4 million) and soybeans ($16.3 million), followed by fresh market vegetables ($6.9 million), apples ($6.3 million), sugar beets ($5.4 million) and forages ($4.2 million).

Overall in the province, farmers in Lambton County claimed the biggest insurance payouts for soybeans ($8.2 million), corn ($6.7 million) and winter wheat ($609,000) In Eastern Ontario (all counties and regions east of Toronto), Prescott & Russell farmers again proved to be the biggest believers in crop insurance, making the province’s second highest soybean claim (nearly $3.9 million) and third highest corn claim (just over $4 million).

In fact, Prescott & Russell ranked behind only Lambton in the total value of combined claims for soybeans, corn and all types of wheat (spring and winter varieties) in Ontario last year. By that measure, Lambton farmers claimed $15.5 million, compared with Prescott & Russell farmers who collected almost $8.6 million on those crops.

Ontario corn production insurance claims for 2024:

Lambton – $6.67 million (8.7 % of $76.7 million coverage)
Middlesex – $5.33 million (4.2 % of $127.3 million coverage)
Prescott & Russell – $4.04 million (6.7 % of $59.9 million coverage)
Elgin – $3.62 million (3.7 % of $98.3 million coverage)
Chatham-Kent – $1.17 million (0.9 % of $136.4 million coverage)
York – $883,000 (7.6 % of $11.6 million coverage)
Peel – $824,000 (8.7 % of $9.4 million coverage)
Halton – $604,000 (12.1 % of $5.4 million coverage)
Rainy River – $600,000 (37.8 % of $1.6 million coverage)
Essex – $575,000 (1.5 % of $37.9 million coverage)
Ottawa – $533,000 (1.3 % of $41.5 million coverage)
Stormont Dundas & Glengarry – $447,000 (0.5 % of $89.8 million coverage)
Haldimand – $368,000 (2.1 % of $17.2 million coverage)
Lanark – $341,000 (5.6 % of $6.1 million coverage)
Kawartha Lakes – $333,000 (2.1 % of $15.9 million coverage)
Hamilton – $327,000 (2.6 % of $12.4 million coverage)
Leeds-Grenville – $325,000 (2.3 % of $14 million coverage)
Niagara – $315,000 (2.2 % of $14.2 million coverage)
Wellington – $313,000 (0.8 % of $40 million coverage)
Norfolk – $260,000 (0.7 % of $39.3 million coverage)
Simcoe – $229,000 (0.6 % of $39.2 million coverage)
Lennox & Addington – $218,000 (2.9 % of $7.6 million coverage)
Peterborough – $188,000 (2.1 % of $9 million coverage)
Dufferin – $184,000 (1.8 % of $10 million coverage)
Hastings – $172,000 (1.5 % of $11.6 million coverage)
Brant – $146,000 (0.6 % of $24.3 million coverage)
Bruce – $138,000 (0.3 % of $47.5 million coverage)
Huron – $122,000 (0.8 % of $148.4 million coverage)
Prince Edward – $93,000 (1.0 % of $8.9 million coverage)
Oxford – $81,000 (0.1 % of $81.2 million coverage)
Durham – $57,000 (0.15 % of $37.7 million coverage)
Frontenac – $57,000 (1.5 % of $3.7 million coverage)
Grey – $45,000 (0.2 % of $19.8 million coverage)
Waterloo – $32,000 (0.2 % of $14.8 million coverage)
Timiskaming – $28,000 (3.3 % of $854,000 coverage)
Northumberland – $19,000 (0.0 % of $20.1 million coverage)
Renfrew – $12,000 (0.1 % of $11.6 million coverage)

Ontario soybean production insurance claims for 2024:

Lambton – $8.2 million (6.1 % of $134.7 million coverage)
Prescott & Russell – $3.87 million (8.18 % of $47.3 million coverage)
Chatham-Kent – $2.5 million (1.9 % of $136.3 million coverage)
Middlesex – $1.97 million (2.3 % of $85.5 million coverage)
Essex – $1.85 million (1.8 % of $103 million coverage)
Elgin – $975,000 (1.7 % of $58.4 million coverage)
Ottawa – $768,000 (2.4 % of $31 million coverage)
Huron – $685,000 (0.7 % of $103 million coverage)
Haldimand – $554,000 (1.3 % of $42 million coverage)
Simcoe – $347,000 (0.8 % of $44 million coverage)
Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry – $310,000 (0.5 % of $60.3 million coverage)
Dufferin – $247,000 (2.1 % of $12 million coverage)
Oxford – $244,000 (0.8 % of $31 million coverage)
Perth – $234,000 (0.5 % of $49.8 million coverage)
Niagara – $206,000 (0.6 % of $33.9 million coverage)
Rainy River – $203,000 (6.3 % of $3.2 million coverage)
Brant – $188,000 (1.1 % of $16.9 million coverage)
Wellington – $185,000 (0.5 % of $39.8 million coverage)
Norfolk – $179,000 (0.7 % of $24.2 million coverage)
Timiskaming – $174,000 (2.3 % of $7.5 million coverage)
Bruce – $157,000 (0.28 % of $55.1 million coverage)
Hamilton – $153,000 (1.3 % of $12 million coverage)
Leeds & Grenville – $151,000 (1.2 % of $12.8 million coverage)
Halton – $144,000 (1.7 % of $8.3 million coverage)
York – $137,000 (1.5 % of $9.3 million coverage)
Prince Edward – $88,000 (1.2 % of $7.1 million coverage)
Peel – $74,000 (0.7 % of $10.8 million coverage)
Northumberland – $62,000 (0.5 % of $12.5 million coverage)
Lanark – $41,000 (0.7 % of $6.2 million coverage)
Kawartha Lakes – $38,000 (0.25 % of $15.4 million coverage)
Grey – $37,000 (0.18 % of $20.6 million coverage)
Durham – $31,000 (0.15 % of $20.4 million coverage)
Peterborough – $27,000 (0.27 % of $9.9 million coverage)
Waterloo – $26,000 (0.28 % of $9.3 million coverage)
Frontenac – $19,000 (0.33 % of $5.75 million coverage)
Nipissing – $18,000 (1.4 % of $1.3 million coverage)
Hastings – $15,000 (0.14 % of $10.3 million coverage)
Renfrew – $10,000 (0.8 % of $11.5 million coverage)
Lennox & Addington – $6,000 (0.07 % of $8.4 million)