Jan. 20/26 News Print Page

Your success is our priority.

That’s why Agriculture Financial Services (AFSC) offers crop insurance, income stabilization, lending, and Livestock Price Insurance — to help you manage risk and build a stronger future.

“Every farmer’s situation is unique and AFSC’s programs are designed to meet their needs,” said RJ Sigurdson, Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation.

“Alberta’s government continues to invest in business risk management programs to make sure farmers and ranchers have access to insurance and income stabilization programs they can depend on.”

For 2026, we’ve made improvements to our products to keep pace with the changing needs of today’s farmers and ranchers.

“Listening to our clients and industry is essential to delivering the right products and services,” said Darryl Kay, AFSC’s chief executive officer. “At AFSC, we actively review our programs and consult with producers to understand what works and what needs to improve.

“That feedback drives program improvements, ensuring they provide real value and help clients reach their goals.”

Crop Insurance

AFSC is making changes to several crop insurance offerings for the 2026 crop year. Changes include moving the application deadline for Bee Overwintering Insurance, adjusting weather station moisture normals to align with sustainable practices, aligning irrigated and dryland hay coverage, and refining bear damage to hives as it moves from the pilot stage into permanent AFSC programming.

  • Weather station calculation alignment: AFSC has adjusted the historical precipitation normals for Moisture Deficiency Insurance (MDI), Moisture Deficiency Endorsement (MDE) and Silage Greenfeed Lack of Moisture Insurance (LOM). This has resulted in slight changes to normal moisture levels for most weather stations.The overall impact on clients will be small. The calculation used to determine how much moisture has been experienced at the weather station historically will now match the in-year moisture calculation. The change helps support the long-term sustainability of MDI, MDE and LOM and help keep premium costs affordable.
  • Hay insurance – irrigated/dryland coverage levels: Clients will need to elect the same coverage level for irrigated and dryland hay. The change aligns Hay Insurance with other insurance programming at AFSC.
  • Bee Overwintering Insurance application and election deadline: The application and election deadline for Bee Overwintering Insurance will move from June 30 to September 1. The change, made in partnership with the Alberta Beekeepers, helps align Bee Overwintering Insurance with apiary management practices.
  • Wildlife Damage Compensation Program bear damage to hives: AFSC has made two adjustments based on pilot phase feedback as bear damage to hives becomes an ongoing feature of the Wildlife Damage Compensation Program. These changes were made in collaboration with the Alberta Beekeepers Commission.
    • The compensation period for losses to colonies and hive equipment will extend by two months at each end of the season and will now cover bear damage to hives from April 1 to November 30. Compensation for honey loss will remain within the current May 1 to October 31 period.
    • Beekeepers will now have more time to report damage once discovered. The window has been extended from 48 hours to five days.

Producers should anticipate premium increases for the 2026 crop year. These increases continue to be driven by loss experience from previous dry years. Individual program changes that provide additional coverage may also contribute to premium costs.

All efforts are made to ensure that premiums remain affordable to clients; coverage reflects the value of their crop, and participation remains constant year to year. Actual dollar premiums paid by clients are influenced by a wide range of factors including loss history, coverage selection, individual experience, and market prices.

Options are available to manage perennial and annual crop insurance premium expenses. Under production-based insurance, price options are offered for hay as well as Moisture Deficiency and Corn Heat Unit insurance products. Coverage levels ranging from 50 to 80 per cent are available for most commodities insured under AFSC’s production-based insurance products.

Clients are encouraged to connect with their insurance relationship manager to review their situation and explore how to deal with any premium increases while managing their risk.

AgriStability
Changes are on the way that will increase AgriStability’s responsiveness for livestock producers.

  • Pasture rent as an allowable expense: Pasture rental costs will now be reflected in the margins in both the current and historical years, ensuring feeding costs are better reflected in the margins.
  • The valuation of eligible crop inventories fed on the farm is changing: Increases in feed prices will no longer offset drops in the feed inventory. This change helps AgriStability be more responsive, especially when feed inventories decline in years of drought.

Additionally, changes over the past few years have made participating in AgriStability easier. New participants have the option to provide three years instead of five years of historical information, reducing the amount of information needed to participate in the program. Participants can also choose to have their historical average based on how farm income is reported for tax purposes. This removes the need to provide historical inventory and accrual information for calculating benefits.

Participants should also be aware that starting with the 2025 program year, the deadline to file supplementary forms and tax information has moved to June 30. The deadline for the 2025 program year is June 30, 2026 with a final deadline of September 30. Participants who have not submitted their 2025 supplementary forms by the September 30, 2026 deadline will be ineligible for the program year.

Lending

AFSC provides a competitive lending program for producers and agribusinesses, and a market-leading program for new and returning entrants to farming. We continue to make enhancements to our lending workflows in 2026 to reduce turnaround times, put money into producers’ hand sooner, and improve client experience.

 

To learn more about AFSC insurance, income stabilization or lending options, please reach out to your preferred branch office, contact AFSC through Live Chat on our website or AFSC Connect, or call our Client Care Centre at 1.877.899.2372.