Safire Insurance has announced that its macadamia cover has been extended to offer wider protection for producers of this increasingly popular crop.

“Since 1987, Safire’s Crop Division has provided timber growers with sustainable plantation insurance cover. For most of this time, Safire has been the sole provider of this type of cover to the South African forestry industry. Based on this expertise, gathered over the past 32 years, we have developed a specialist insurance product that offers orchard growers comprehensive cover for their trees,” says Safire Crop’s Gareth Smallbones, Technical Support Specialist. “There are a number of options available for growers to insure their annual nut harvests but until now, cover for their trees has been difficult to find. Safire can also provide cover for orchard seedlings while in the nursery, ensuring peace of mind to the nurseryman.”

South Africa is the world’s main producer of macadamia nuts, with over 30 000 ha of orchards in Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga growing an estimated 50 000+ tonnes per annum. About 4000 ha of new trees are added each year.

While it is one of the country’s most profitable crops, macadamia farming is not a quick and easy way to make a profit. Establishment costs are relatively high, and income is only realised once the trees are four years and older when the first crop is ready for harvesting. Pests and disease are an issue but can be controlled with careful farming and regular routine maintenance. Gareth says, “The industry is definitely becoming more technical and macs are not a plant and leave crop. There are risks: fire, wind and hail can damage the trees, for example, which is why insurance cover is so important.”

He explains further about the enhanced Safire cover: “In the past, insurers have been reluctant to cover drying bins or stock therein relating to any agricultural process because of perceptions that there is a heating stage involved.  Heating = fire risk.  The macadamia drying process does not require a high heat application and most modern drying sheds run off any convective heat produced by painting shed roofs black.  After studying the actual risk on the sheds and drying and storage bins, Safire made the decision to insure the stock of nuts whilst being dried and stored on the farm premises so that we can offer insurance with no gaps (seedling to market). While cover for seedlings and trees is offered through the Safire Crop Division, the insurance of stock, equipment and buildings would be through Safire Insurance as part of its short-term offering.”

Safire Insurance has a history dating back to 1987, when the company started out as an insurance co-operative developed by timber farmers as an alternative to the high cost of insuring their plantations. The company has grown and expanded and today offers a comprehensive and diverse range of short-term insurance options across all sectors. The agriculture industry remains a significant marketplace for their products. Safire launched its macadamia cover two years ago, adding to its plantation and sugar cane short-term products.

“In the four years that we have been intensively studying this new crop, we have refined our macadamia policy and extended it from the initial fire cover to offering cover for other perils such as wind, hail, and malicious damage to the trees, and we now also offer fire cover on the fruit as well,” says Gareth. “Specific macadamia insurance needs should be discussed with an authorised Safire broker or with Safire Crop directly to ensure comprehensive cover for growers. Safire’s orchard cover is not limited to macadamia orchards: all tree types can be covered, including vineyards, olive groves and other fruit and nut orchards.”

Source: Safire