Since no one can foretell the duration of a crisis, having an emergency supply of food and water for your home and barnyard is critical.

• Water: Plan to have at least one gallon of water per day for each person and animal on the farm.
• Feed: It’s suggested to provide full-feed bulk bins or have an alternative plan to access supplementary feed and water.

To help you get started, we’ve put together an example of how you can organize your own detailed inventory. Remember, updating these three categories (Vehicles & Major Equipment, Farm Buildings & Structures, and Crops & Livestock) annually is the simplest way to make sure your insurance limits reflect the true replacement value of your assets today.

If your tools and equipment are insured for Actual Cash Value (ACV), you might be underinsured. Since the pandemic, the cost of new equipment has fluctuated dramatically compared to, say, the combine harvester you purchased in 1998.

If your insurance limit is too low, you’ll have to pay part of the repair or replacement bill out of pocket. If an accident occurs during harvest season, that’s not an easy thing to do.

Fire is one of the most devastating risks a farm business faces, capable of destroying your livelihood in minutes. A robust fire prevention plan needs to cover both routine farm operations and the growing threat of wildfires.

Farm Fire Prevention

Taking simple steps during daily operations can significantly reduce your risk of a farm fire:

• Parking: Be cautious when parking vehicles and motorized machinery near combustible items, such as hay, chemicals, or other farm products, as they can become very hot after use.
• Cleaning: Ensure that all machinery is properly cleaned after each use, including cleaning engines and outlets of dust and debris.
• Water Source: Keep a water source handy so small fires can be controlled and extinguished quickly while out in the fields or corral.

Wildfire Preparation and Resources

With wildfire season becoming an increasingly significant threat. The year 2025 marked a record-breaking wildfire season for Saskatchewan, with more land burned than we have seen in decades

Voluntary firefighting coverage is an additional option that farmers should consider. This coverage reimburses expenses for hiring volunteer firefighters to help extinguish a fire on the farm property.

This benefit is particularly useful in rural areas where a local, fully-funded fire department may not be available. If a fire occurs, multiple voluntary firefighting departments may respond, and each department will send an invoice.

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Thanks for reading! I hope you found this month’s article on farmer’s insurance risks helpful. Here are some more ways to access insurance information and tips:

Last updated: October 22, 2025