Farmers Edge announces first of its kind canola heat blast yield protection

Date:05-20-2021

Farmers Edge Inc. (TSX: FDGE), a Winnipeg-based pure-play digital agriculture company, is going to offer Canada's first Canola Heat Blast Yield Protection to its customers. This innovative digital product will help Canadian farmers protect the substantial investment in their canola crop while mitigating the financial damage that an extreme heatwave can have on yields.

Farmers Edge digitizes the flow of insurance data from start to finish, and Munich Re, one of the global leaders in the insurance industry with A+ (Superior) Financial Strength Rating affirmed by AM Best, will underwrite the contract. Seamless connectivity with Munich Re ensures fluid information delivery providing unique user experience.

Heat blast occurs when temperatures rise above 28 C during the day and above 16 C at night. This heat level disrupts the canola plant's growth cycle leading to a drop in yield at harvest. In 2020 alone, Canada's prairie provinces experienced numerous days where the temperature exceeded this threshold. High temperatures combined with dry conditions can lead to significant yield losses.

This parametric insurance solution is affordable, easy to use, and eliminates the paperwork and hassle of filing a claim for busy farmers. Farmers Edge customers simply choose which fields they wish to insure, and their digital platform FarmCommand does the rest. It will passively collect all the data (temperature, field conditions, planting date), trigger a guaranteed claim when the weather and cumulative growing degree day thresholds are met, and automatically send it to Munich Re. All of this is done in real-time, expediting the insurance settlement process and eliminating the need for a claim adjustment. Best of all, it is fully transparent and requires no supervision on the part of farmers.

"We are thrilled to offer Canadian canola farmers this novel product that can help them deal with the catastrophic effects of climate change on their crops," said Wade Barnes, Chief Executive Officer and founder of Farmers Edge.

"Growers have never had access to a product like this to protect themselves from excess heat that can be extremely damaging to the crop. With canola prices hitting record highs, this gives farmers peace of mind and allows them to focus on farming," said Barnes.

"Every year we hear reports of 'Heat Blast' in canola caused by heat and lack of rain," said Thom Weir PAg, Senior Agronomist at Farmers Edge. "A product that allows farmers to insure against losses caused by heat blast is one more risk management tool that will allow producers in susceptible areas to protect their financial inputs into their canola crops."