Farming Insurance

Our farming insurance capabilities are built on a practical understanding of the complexities of modern agriculture: unpredictable weather, market volatility, rapid technological change, and ever-shifting regulatory requirements.

Farming is one of the most vital industries in the world, yet it often goes unnoticed. Farmers provide the food, fibre, and resources that sustain communities and economies, but the complexity and risk involved in running a modern farm are rarely understood outside the industry.

Behind every harvest is a business that faces unpredictable weather, market volatility, rising costs, and operational challenges that demand resilience and foresight.

At Edgewise, we believe farmers deserve recognition—not just for what they produce, but for the expertise and commitment required to keep their operations thriving in an uncertain world. That belief is at the heart of how we support our agricultural clients. We take the time to understand each operation’s unique needs, challenges, and opportunities so we can design insurance strategies that truly safeguard what matters most.

Our role is more than providing cover; it’s about empowering farmers with confidence. From risk assessment and policy placement to ongoing support and claims advocacy, we work as a partner invested in the long-term resilience of every farm we serve.

Whether you run a family enterprise, a large-scale commercial operation, or anything in between, our goal is to help you protect your livelihood and build for the future.

Our Farming Insurance Experience

We have extensive experience working with farming and agricultural enterprises, providing insurance solutions that address the diverse risks faced by primary producers.

Our team understands the operational challenges of farming businesses, from crop and livestock exposures to machinery and infrastructure protection, and we tailor programs to safeguard both assets and income streams.

Our work with farming clients has involved:

  • Securing comprehensive property and asset cover, including homesteads, sheds, silos, irrigation systems, and high-value machinery such as harvesters and tractors, ensuring protection against fire, storm, and accidental damage.

  • Placing crop and livestock insurance, covering seasonal risks such as hail, frost, and disease outbreaks, as well as mortality cover for stud and commercial livestock.

  • Advising on Public and Products Liability, essential for farms that host visitors, operate roadside sales, or supply produce to wholesalers, protecting against third-party injury and contamination claims.

  • Customising Business Interruption cover, tailored for agricultural operations to protect income from crop sales, livestock production, and agri-tourism activities following an insured event.

  • Arranging specialist covers, including chemical drift liability, machinery breakdown, and cyber liability for farms using precision agriculture and digital platforms.

  • Reviewing contracts for agistment, share farming, and supply agreements, ensuring compliance with indemnity clauses and risk transfer provisions to minimise exposure.

  • Leveraging group programmes for multi-property or family-owned enterprises, negotiating competitive premiums and uniform coverage across all locations.

  • Providing expert claims advocacy, supporting clients through complex claims such as major storm damage, machinery breakdown during harvest, and livestock losses, ensuring timely and fair resolution.

Specialty Offerings

Farming All Risks

This is a product that is common in other sectors (typically known as Industrial Special Risks) but only recently introduced to agriculture by a specialist Insurer under the Farming All Risks name. This product is designed to solve complex problems for an underserved market using unique, innovative solutions.

Farming All Risks bundles several types of coverage together under a single policy:

  • Buildings
  • Stock / Contents
  • Machinery
  • Business Interruption

This is an alternative product structure to the typical farm pack and is often a better solution for medium to larger scale farm operations.

We would look to investigate this product structure for farms incurring over $30,000 in insurance premiums currently.

This policy uniquely provides the option for Business Interruption (Loss of Profits) written specific to your farming specialty. This protects your balance sheet in the event of a significant loss.

Derivatives/Parametric Insurance

Derivatives are financial contracts whose value depends on an underlying variable such as commodity prices, interest rates, or weather conditions.

In farming, derivatives are commonly used to manage volatility and stabilize income when unpredictable events like droughts or market swings threaten revenue.

Unlike traditional crop insurance, parametric insurance does not require proof of physical damage to trigger a claim. Instead, payouts are based on predefined, measurable parameters such as rainfall, temperature, soil moisture, or wind speed.

If a key weather metric falls outside an agreed range (for example, seasonal rainfall drops below a set threshold), the policy automatically pays out. This removes the need for lengthy assessments and speeds up recovery.

Parametric insurance offers:

  • Fast payouts: No need for on-site loss adjusters or damage verification
  • Revenue protection: Focuses on income loss caused by adverse conditions, not just physical crop damage
  • Complementary coverage: Works alongside traditional crop or farm property insurance for a more resilient risk strategy

Farm Property Insurance

Traditional farm insurance is designed to protect the physical assets and livestock on a farm. It can also cover the interruption to business operations that results from a loss. This type of insurance helps farmers safeguard essential infrastructure and equipment, including:

  • Farm buildings
  • Sheds
  • Silos
  • Cold rooms
  • Tools
  • Fuel tanks
  • Irrigation equipment
  • Livestock
  • Stored produce

By covering these assets, farm property insurance ensures that farmers can recover quickly from events such as fire, storm damage, theft, or accidental damage.

Crop Insurance

Crop insurance focuses on protecting crops during the growth stage. It is intended to reduce the financial impact of catastrophic losses caused by events such as drought, flood, or severe storms. Coverage can extend to:

  • Yield loss: Compensation when actual yield falls below expected levels
  • Quality degradation: Protection against reduced crop quality due to adverse conditions
  • Named Perils: Cover for specific risks such as hail or frost
  • Multi-Peril: Broader coverage for multiple risks, typically more expensive and rarely offered

This coverage helps farmers maintain financial stability when adverse conditions threaten their harvest.

Plant and Machinery Breakdown Insurance

Farm operations rely heavily on machinery and vehicles, and protecting these assets is critical. Depending on the number of items, this coverage can be included within a farm insurance policy. However, when there is a significant fleet or high-value equipment, separating this into its own policy often provides a more cost-effective solution.

This insurance responds to unforeseen physical damage to machinery caused by events such as:

  • Collision or rollover
  • Impact with trees, fences, posts, or livestock
  • Fire, explosion, or lightning
  • Storm and flood (subject to insurer terms)
  • Theft or attempted theft
  • Malicious damage

Coverage can be extended to include internal failures not caused by external events, such as:

  • Engine failure
  • Hydraulic system failure
  • Electrical or electronic breakdown
  • Gearbox or transmission failure

This extension is particularly valuable for high-value harvest equipment, where hiring replacement machinery can result in significant additional costs.

Key Person Insurance

Key Person Insurance protects a farm operation against the financial impact of losing a critical individual due to death, disability, or serious illness. On farms, the “key person” is usually someone whose skills, expertise, or relationships are essential to the operation and revenue of the business. Some examples of key persons are:

  • Owner-operator: The main decision-maker, planner, and hands-on manager
  • Specialist manager: Oversees livestock breeding, irrigation, cropping schedules, or viticulture
  • Technical expert: Agronomist, irrigation or machinery specialist whose knowledge is crucial
  • Sales or marketing manager: Responsible for contracts, grain or livestock sales, and supplier relationships

This cover is particularly useful for individuals whose absence would cause workflow to halt or significantly disrupt operations. It ensures the farm can continue running and meet its financial obligations during a period of transition or recovery.