The short answer
Farm insurance is a set of covers built around how land is actually used: the house and outbuildings, machinery and equipment, livestock, stored grain, and the liability that comes with visitors, workers and animals. Crop cover often runs through separate programs rather than an ordinary policy. Horse and equine cover is its own product. What you need depends on what you grow, keep and sell, and a farm broker can fit the pieces together.
- Grain, hay, fruit and vegetable growers
- Cattle, hog, poultry, sheep, goat and dairy producers
- Horse owners, boarding stables, riding schools and breeders
- Hobby farms and acreages with a few animals and a shop full of equipment
- Farm families passing the operation to the next generation
No broker in the network handles this yet. You can still prepare and save the request now. It is kept, and requests like it show us which brokers to find next.
Outside Alberta, Canada you can prepare and save a request today; sending opens place by place. Brokers answer with their own quotes. Broker.insure does not quote, advise or take commission.
01 / What it covers
The parts worth understanding
Farm buildings and dwelling
The farmhouse, barns, sheds, bins and shops. Many policies insure the house like a home and the working buildings on a separate schedule, and older barns may be valued differently from new ones.
Machinery and equipment
Tractors, combines, sprayers, implements and tools, usually listed one by one. Ask how breakdown, theft from a field and rented or borrowed equipment are treated.
Livestock
Animals killed or lost to named causes such as fire, lightning, transport accidents or electrocution. Cover for illness, mortality or high-value breeding animals is often separate and needs its own detail.
Stored crops and produce
Grain in bins, hay in a barn and product in cold storage, which can be lost to fire, wind or a failed cooling system. What is covered depends on where it is stored and for how long.
Growing crops
Standing crops are often protected through crop programs tied to yield or weather rather than a standard policy. A broker can explain what is available in your province and what falls outside it.
Farm liability
What you owe if a customer is hurt at a farm stand, a worker is injured, livestock gets onto a road, or a spray drifts onto a neighbour. Agritourism, u-pick and events change the risk.
Equine cover
Horses can be insured for death, theft, surgery and loss of use, and the owner for liability. Boarding, training, lessons and showing each change what the insurer needs to see.
02 / Get ready
Bring this, and expect these questions
Gather
- A list of every building with its age, construction, use and approximate replacement cost
- A schedule of machinery and equipment with year, make, model and serial numbers
- Livestock counts by type, and details of any high-value breeding stock
- What you grow and store, how much, and where it is kept at different times of year
- Any sales direct to the public: farm stand, u-pick, tours, workshops or events
- Workers: family, seasonal, hired and temporary foreign workers, and how they are paid
- For horses: age, breed, use, purchase price or appraisal, vet reports and who handles them
- Details of leased or rented land, shared equipment and custom work done for others
- Your current policies, renewal notices and any crop program paperwork
A broker will ask
- What do you grow or raise, and how has that changed in the last few years?
- How are the buildings heated, wired and protected, and how old is the wiring?
- Are any buildings empty, in poor repair or used for something other than farming?
- Do you lease land or equipment, or do custom work for other farms?
- Does the public come onto the property, and for what?
- Do you use pesticides or fertilizers, and who applies them?
- Who works on the farm, and are any of them not family?
- Where is machinery kept at night and in winter?
- Do you board, train or show horses, and does anyone ride them other than you?
Not sure of an answer? Leave it. "Not known yet" is a fine answer, and a broker will help you fill it in.
03 / Build your request
Answer a few questions. Get your own list.
Pick what fits. Your answers shape the list beside them, and they are saved to your request as plain facts a broker can read. "Not sure yet" is always a fine answer.
04 / Three situations
See which one sounds like yours
A mixed grain and cattle operation in Saskatchewan
A couple farms several quarters of wheat and canola and runs a small cow-calf herd. Their policy was written by a previous owner and they are not sure the bins, the swather or the calves are listed correctly.
First steps. Walk the yard with a notebook and build a schedule of buildings, bins, machinery and animal counts. Ask a farm broker how stored grain, calves in different seasons and custom work for a neighbour are covered, and which crop programs run alongside the policy.
A hobby farm with three horses near a city
A family bought a small acreage with a barn and keeps three horses, one of them a young jumper bought for a large sum. A neighbour's child has started coming over to ride and help with chores.
First steps. Collect the purchase paperwork, vet records and any recent appraisal for each horse. Ask the broker whether the horses should be insured for death or theft, how liability applies when a visitor rides, and whether the barn needs a different approach from the house.
A u-pick fruit farm adding a weekend market
A berry grower in the Okanagan wants to add a café, pony rides and a Saturday market. Hundreds of visitors will arrive through the summer, and some will bring children and dogs.
First steps. Describe the new activities in writing, including who runs each one and when. Ask the broker how public visitors change farm liability, whether the food service needs its own cover, and whether the pony rides must be placed with a specialist.
05 / Words you will hear
The jargon, in plain words
- Farm schedule
- A list attached to the policy naming each building, machine or animal group and the amount insured for it. Anything missing from the schedule may not be covered.
- Named perils
- A way of insuring livestock or buildings only against causes written into the policy, such as fire, lightning or transport accidents. Causes not listed, like illness, sit outside unless added.
- Crop program
- A government-backed arrangement that responds to yield or weather losses on standing crops. It runs apart from a regular farm property policy and has its own enrolment dates.
- Mortality cover
- Insurance that pays when a horse or valuable animal dies from covered causes. It is priced on age, use and value, and often asks for a vet report first.
- Agritourism
- Visitor-facing activity on a working farm, such as u-pick, tours or a farm café. It brings the public onto the land and can change how liability is rated.
06 / Common mistakes
What trips people up
- Insuring the farmhouse on a home policy and assuming the barns, bins and machinery are included.
- Leaving out the uses that bring the public onto the land until after someone is hurt.
- Assuming a farm policy protects standing crops, when that is usually a different arrangement entirely.
- Keeping an old building schedule after a barn has been rebuilt, expanded or turned into storage for someone else.
- Treating a horse as a pet or hobby when it is also used for lessons, boarding or competition.
- Not mentioning hired or seasonal workers when the policy assumes everyone working is family.
Ready when you are
Turn this into one clear request.
Save it, add what you know, and choose when to send it. A licensed broker who handles farm and equine insurance takes it from there.
07 / Questions people ask
Straight answers
What does farm insurance cover?
It usually covers the buildings, machinery, stored products, livestock for named causes of loss, and the liability that comes with running a farm. What is included, and what is left to separate programs or add-ons, differs by insurer and province. A broker who works with farms can list what your operation needs and where the gaps usually sit.
Is a hobby farm insured differently from a commercial farm?
Often yes. A hobby farm may sit on a home policy with extensions, while a farm that sells product usually needs a farm policy. The line is not about size but about income, public contact and how the land is used. Tell the broker exactly what you do and they can say which approach fits.
How do I insure my horse?
Horse owners can buy mortality cover, which pays if a horse dies, and extensions for theft, surgery and loss of use. You will need the horse's age, breed, use and value, plus a vet report for higher-value animals. Liability for riders and visitors is a separate question that a broker can address.
Are crops covered by farm insurance?
Standing crops are generally protected through crop programs that respond to yield or weather losses, not an ordinary farm policy. Stored crops, such as grain in a bin, are different and are usually covered under the property part of the policy. A broker can explain what is offered in your province.
Do I need liability insurance if I sell at a farm stand?
Selling to the public brings people onto your land and your product into their homes, so liability matters. Food products, u-pick and tours each bring different risks. Ask a broker about both premises liability and product liability, and whether your current farm policy extends to public selling at all.
Does farm insurance cover hired workers?
Not automatically. Liability on a farm policy is not the same as workers' compensation, which is a separate system that differs by province and may or may not be required for farm workers. A broker can tell you how your province treats farm employees and what the policy does and does not address.
General information, not insurance advice. Broker.insure is a directory and request service: it is not an insurer and does not quote, bind or advise. Policy terms, availability and what is required where you live depend on your situation and on licensed professionals. Updated 2026-10-31.