Will weather insurance convince farmers?

The State is obliged to intervene more and more often to supplement compensation and the system was no longer sustainable. Today the risk will be better distributed among farmers, insurers and the State which has released a budget of 600 million euros. Insurance will still not be mandatorybut this reform aims to double the number of insured farmers.

Winegrowers they have not been spared in recent years, especially in Menetou-Salon: “Very recently, we had 2016 where we lost almost everything to late frosts.” recalls Pierre Clément, vice president of the wine appellation. “Then 2020, due to drought. We did fifty percent less. And then 2021, where there were very significant losses due to spring frosts. That’s still a lot of events in a fairly short period of time.”

Insurers will now reimburse damages up to 50% with a 20% deductible. Above 50%, the state will take over. A good compromise for Pierre Clément who last year saw his insurance premium rise after the 2021 frost: “It had increased by 25 to 30%. And in the new version of climate insurance, it would seem that up to 70% of aid would be eligible.”

There is no need to resort to the rather restrictive and administratively complicated system of agricultural disaster. It required a classification of the municipality in natural disaster. Compensation will be calculated on the average performance over the past five years, less the best and worst. A calculation method not necessarily favorable to the Menetou-Salon appellation, facing three risks in five years: “It’s still very useful overall.“says Pierre Clement. “It’s been helped before. Everyone should be insured. This is just my personal opinion, but I know that if we hadn’t been insured in the last few years, we wouldn’t be here today.”

The premium generally represents around 2.5% of the capital insured. Uninsured farmers will continue to be compensated as an incentive to join the scheme, but at a lower level.