A new risk management tool for New Brunswick maple producers to protect them from financial losses due to events like extreme weather.
Producers can purchase an AgriInsurance policy for extra protection.
AgriInsurance programs are already offered in the province to growers of apples, grain, grain corn, oilseeds, potatoes, strawberries, sweet corn, fresh market vegetables and wild blueberries.
Participants in the new program will share the cost of premiums with the provincial and federal governments. Government funding comes from the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership.
The provincial and federal governments worked with the New Brunswick Maple Syrup Association to develop the program.
“The maple syrup industry occupies a central place in New Brunswick, with more than 500 people working in this sector and tens of millions of dollars in revenues annually injected into our province’s economy,” said association president Frédérick Dion.
“It is an industry that is at the mercy of climatic hazards and various environmental factors which can have major impacts on the quantity of syrup that is produced from one year to the next. The implementation of the AgriInsurance program will reduce the financial risks for maple syrup producers who must, at this time, assume all of the losses suffered when a bad year occurs.”
