After the recent frost damage and the resulting financial cataclysm for producers, the issue of crop insurance is resurfacing. A choice that some have already made, despite the high cost of contributions.
In the aftermath of the wave of frost that hit the country, the government launched the “agricultural calamities” system – created in 1964, this system compensates farms that have suffered a loss of harvest or of a production tool. , due to a climatic hazard considered exceptional. However, if this compensation scheme concerns fruit trees, it does not concern vines, as wine growers are encouraged to take out insurance to protect themselves from the consequences of climatic hazards. But the cost of insurance is a deterrent for many. As a result, only 4% of arboricultural areas and 32% of wine-growing areas are insured at the national level. The repetition of freezing episodes in recent years could be a game-changer.
Insure yourself to sleep better at night
The cost of “multi-risk crop” insurance, which covers 15 climatic hazards including frost, hail and drought, is perceived as prohibitive for many farmers. Alain Mounier, fruit producer in Charmes-sur-Rhône, estimates that insurance would represent 25 to 30% of its turnover and therefore relies on the “agricultural calamities” regime. But, at the beginning of April 2021, he still has not received the compensation for the spring frost 2020, which affected 80% of his apricot trees, while his case has been investigated since July 2020. His colleague Nicolas Véol, installed in 2013 between Soyons et Charmes, made the opposite choice, “Hail insurance has already saved me several times, so I took out comprehensive insurance this year. It is very expensive but subsidized at 65% by Europe, we are compensated during the year and we only pay the premium in October after the season. It’s a calculation and a gamble, but when you have just set up from scratch and have loans, it allows you to sleep better at night. »
A reasoned choice for Pierre Clape
The Clape estate, in Cornas, is one of the few insured wine-growing facilities. ” My father was already insured in the 1960s. When I took over I gave up, but the 2003 freeze made me change my mind. », Indicates Pierre Clape who had never known such damage and estimates the losses at 50% on his historic plots of Cornas and Saint-Péray, and at 80% on his Côtes de Rhône. ” The expert has toured the area and will come back this summer to see what has grown back. Compensation is calculated on the average of the last five years, removing the best and the worst. We then make the difference with the harvest of the year », Explains the winegrower who does not regret his choice:« I’ve been with them for ten years, that will compensate for the bonuses I paid them. »
A system running out of steam?
At Crédit Agricole, Franck Julien, director of the agricultural market, insists on contact, proximity and education. ” All our teams are mobilized and 93% of our disaster victims have already received a visit from an expert. As for our insurance, we do it on a case-by-case basis by establishing an estimate to identify the risk exposure and the real cost per hectare. We also rely on responsiveness: for a client who should have harvested in the summer of 2021, the insurance premium will be paid in October after deduction of the insurance contribution. ” The fact remains that the repetition of claims leads to an increase in insurance contributions, and that the limits and cumbersome nature of the “agricultural calamities” system mean that farmers, insurers, the FNSEA and the public authorities agree on the principle of a fundamental reform of the system.
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