Agricultural Programs Flashcards

1
Q

Provide 6 crop insurance programs

A
  • AgriInsurance
  • AgriStability
  • AgriInvest
  • AgriRecovery
  • Advance Payments Program
  • Western Livestock Price Insurance Program
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2
Q

Briefly describe AgriInsurance Program? How is the program funded?

A

Protect against production losses
• Stabilize producer’s revenue by minimizing impact of natural hazards, hail, flood
• Guaranteeing a predetermined level of production

  • Cost-shared: Producers (40%), Prov (24%), Fed (36%)
  • Admin expenses shared: Prov (40%), Fed (60%)
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3
Q

Briefly describe AgriStability program? How is the program funded?

A

Protect against large declines in production margin
• Help producers manage large prod margin declines
• Payment = 0.7[(RefMargin0.7) - ActualMargin], max 3M
• Apply after recovering from other mechanism (such AgriInsurance)

• Funding: Prov (40%), Fed (60%)

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4
Q

Provide Drivers of declines in annual production margin, which leads to payment under AgriStability program

A
  • Low commodity prices
  • High input costs
  • Production losses
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5
Q

Briefly describe AgriInvest program?

How is the program funded?

A

Build an individual investment fund to mitigate small income losses
• Allow producers to accumulate fund that can be used to manage income shortfalls or make investments to manage farm risks
• Producers can deposit up to 100% of their allowable net sales each year
• Receive a gov deposit of up to 1% (max 15K)

• Funding: Prov (40%), Fed (60%)

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6
Q

Briefly describe AgriRecovery program?

How is the program funded?

A

Protect against extraordinary costs to recover from disaster events (pest, disease, weather-related)
• Help producers recovering from extraordinary events
• Extraordinary costs related expense necessary to resume operations following the disaster

• Funding: Prov (40%), Fed (60%)

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7
Q

Briefly describe Advance Payments program?

How is the program funded?

A

Provide low-interest loans to help with CF management
• Access to short-term low-interest loans to improve CF management
• Up to 50% of estimated value of their agricultural production, max 400K

• Funded by federal

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8
Q

Briefly describe Western Livestock Price Insurance program?

How is the program funded?

A

Protect against fluctuations in market value of livestock
• Pilot launched in 2014
• Help livestock producers protect themselves against unexpected price declines
• Payment is triggered when price decline relative to pre-determined expected price (concept of put options)

  • Premiums funded by producers
  • Admin and impl expenses: Prov (40%), Fed (60%)
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9
Q

Define the Balance-Back Factor in the context of Agricultural insurance

A

Factor applied to premium rates designed to correct the overall premium collected for the discounts and surcharges given to individual producers

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10
Q

AgriInsurance requires actuarial certifications based on Canada’s federal legislation. An actuary must render an opinion on the following for all provincial production insurance programs

A
  • Probable yield methodologies used to derive insured exposure for yield-based plan
  • Premium rate methodologies to fund insurance program
  • Self-sustainability of insurance program
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11
Q

Briefly describe self-sustainability actuarial certification?

A
  • Assess the sustainability of the insurance prog based on stochastic simulation of financial position over 25 yrs
  • Must be able to recover from severe loss scenarios to meet fed self-sustainability requirement
  • Resembles a DCAT over a longer time horizon
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12
Q

List Key elements dof the Canada Production Insurance Regulation

A
  • Coverage level may not exceed 90% of probable yield (producer must retain min 10% deductible)
  • Probable yields must accurately reflect prod capability and prov must submit that it do not result in over-ins
  • Premiums rates must be actuarially sound and all elements of insurance plans that have costs implications
  • Probable yield methodologies, premium rate methodologies and assessments of self-sustainability must be certified by an actuary
  • If prov do not sent 3 actuarial certifications, fed may reduce its premium contribution
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13
Q

Contrast individual yield and collective yield, and proxy crop coverage programs for AgriInsurance

A
  • Individual: Payment when individual producer’s prod falls below its prod guarantee
  • Collective: Payment to a producer when collective prod for a group of producer falls below prod guarantee
  • Proxy crop cov: Payment rate for a given crop is based on payment rate of another crop with more reliable prod and price data
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14
Q

Briefly describe Types of non-yield-based plans for AgriInsurance

A
  • Weather derivative plans: Indemnity when pre-determined meteorological thresholds are triggered, regardless of producer’s actual prod
  • Other plans (acre-based compensation horticulture, perennial plan): Indemnity if more than x% of all insured trees are destroyed by an insured peril
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15
Q

Provide adjustments that should be made to historical probable yield to reflect current production

A
  • Changes in farming
  • Changes in insurance program
  • Trends in technology or genetic improvement
  • Variations in mix of insureds
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16
Q

Probable yield must be responsive but stable.

Provide 4 mitigating techniques to ensure stability of results

A
  • Long-term average
  • Cushioning: Lower weight to outliers
  • Smoothing: Floors and ceiling applied to historical yield
  • Capping
17
Q

Provide and briefly describe Optional Benefits that may be included in the insurance program

A
  • Quality loss protection: Against decreases in quality
  • Reseeding benefits: Compensate for costs to reseed a crop (if enough time to reseed)
  • Unseeded acreage benefits: Coverage when crops remain unseeded due to excessive moisture
  • Hail spot coverage
  • Emergency works benefits: Compensation for cost to mitigate further damage
18
Q

In AgriInsurance, what would happen to the premium if the coverage level would be decrease from 70% to 60%?

A
  • Premium = Liability * Premium Rate
  • Liability = expected prod value * coverage level

If coverage level decreases, premium will decrease as well. Logically, is coverage level is higher, there is a higher probability that prod falls below coverage level, hence premium should be higher

19
Q

Provide the components that must be incorporated to arrive at a final premium rate for AgriInsurance

A
  • Expected indemnity rate (ratio of indemnity/liability)
  • Uncertainty margin
  • Balance-back factor
  • Discount/surcharges
  • Self-sustainability load
  • Re load
20
Q

Provide adjustments that should be made to indemnity rates used as a basis for premium rate methodology

A
  • Current probable yield methodologies
  • Programs conditions
  • Trends
  • Rate coverage level
  • Variations in mix of insureds
21
Q

Premium rates must be responsive but stable.

Provide 4 mitigating techniques to ensure stability of results

A
  • Long-term average
  • Splitting indemnity rates into basic and excess (xs more volatile)
  • Transition rule
  • capping
22
Q

Provide an briefly describe adverse scenarios that should be contemplated to assess self-sustainability

A
  • TIncrease in liabilities
  • Decrease in liabilities
  • Adverse claims xp
  • Introduction of new major insurance plans
  • Deterioration in the market value of investments