Crop Insurance Optional Unit Coverage
2001 Pilot Program Seeks Additional Participants
AGRICORP, the provider
of Crop Insurance in Ontario, is extending the Optional Unit Coverage (OUC) Pilot
Program for the 2001 
crop year. OUC offers
grains and oilseed producers the opportunity to insure all the farms within their
operation under separate contracts, based on differing risks, such as soil type
or geographic location. The significant advantage of this program is that yields
and claims are calculated on a unit basis. Therefore a yield in one unit of corn
may produce a claim, while a yield in another unit of corn may not.
Coverage levels in this program are based on the number of units a grower has and the size of the smallest unit
within the operation. These criteria are used to determine the OUC deductible. This deductible is applied to the
highest level of coverage available under conventional Crop Insurance for the insured crop (e.g., 90% for corn).
Optional Unit Coverage will be available to 100 producers in 2001, on a first come, first served basis. “Demand
for this innovative product has been growing, as producers are looking for flexible risk management options that
can be tailored to their needs,” says Peter Ilnyckyj, Optional Unit Coverage Project Manager. “OUC is just this
type of product.”
Optional Unit Coverage is designed to respond to the changing environment Ontario farmers face today. Increasing
farm size often means producers have to go further from their home operations to find available land. This land
may have different characteristics and, therefore, differing yield potentials.
You may qualify for Optional Unit Coverage if you have a total land base of 200 acres or more, have experienced
different levels of risk among units (for example, due to drainage, different soil profiles, or distance between
units), and have at least one year’s production records for each unit.
Not all Ontario producers would qualify for the Optional Unit Coverage program.
1