How AgriStability Works
Last updated on January 29, 2025
AgriStability helps farmers stay in business during years when profits are low. Our program aims to protect food security for British Columbians and help BC farmers stay in business long-term.
AgriStability works for big and small farms because our fees and coverage are based on your operation's size and profits.
To participate, only three pieces of information about your farm are needed:
- Outline the commodities produced on your farm
- Indicate the size of your farm - amount of land and/or number of animals
- Report your farm's income and expense history from the last 3-5 years or since you started farming
This information allows us to calculate your Reference Margin and determine your farm's coverage.
Margins
AgriStability is a margin based program. When your Program Year Margin falls more than 30% below your Reference Margin, AgriStability will provide a payment. Payments are cost shared by the federal and provincial governments.
Program Year Margin
Your program year margin is calculated by subtracting allowable expenses from allowable income. Program year margin is updated annually by the information received on your Statement A. This calculation also accounts for deferred income and receivables, unpaid expenses, purchased inputs.
- Allowable Expenses are costs that are directly related to the production of commodities on your farm. This includes costs like fuel, fertilizer, seed, feed, and labour. Fixed costs (repairs, rent, mortgage, etc) are not included. A payment is only triggered when the loss is beyond the farmer’s control.
- Allowable Income is the money received from the sale of commodities produced on your farm.
Reference Margin
In AgriStability, your reference margin is very important. It is the average of your profits from the past 5 years of production, after removing the highest and lowest profit years. Your reference margin is used to calculate the amount of coverage that you qualify for and the program fee that you pay for AgriStability coverage. Industry averages are used when a new farm does not have 5 years of reference data.
- Reference Years are the past 5 years of farming income and expense data that were used to calculate your reference margin.
Payment Trigger
Your payment trigger is 70% of your reference margin and is recalculated every year. If your program year margin drops below your payment trigger, you will receive a payment from AgriStability. Request a Coverage Notice to receive and estimate of your payment trigger for the current program year.
Take a look at how AgriStability payments are calculated for the 2024 program year:
Reference Margin
The Reference Margin is calculated using the average of the farm's margins from the previous 5 years. The highest and lowest years are dropped to give a better long-term estimate of the farm's profits.
In the diagram, the margins for 2020, 2021, and 2022 are averaged to create a Reference Margin of $170,000 for the 2024 program year.
AgriStability Payment
You will receive an AgriStability payment when your Program Year Margin falls below your Payment Trigger (70% of your Reference Margin).
When an AgriStability payment is triggered, the program pays 80 cents per every dollar of margin decline. The minimum payment AgriStability offers is $250. The maximum payment is $3,000,000.
This payment calculation uses the numbers from the example above.
The AgriStability payment of $63,200 will help this farmer offset their income decline in 2024.
You can receive up to 50% of your AgriStability payment early to help with expenses before the end of your production cycle. Early payments are only available in the current program year. You must be enrolled and have paid your program fees to qualify for an early payment.
Early payments provide:
- The opportunity to receive a partial payment before the end of your fiscal period and program year
- Quick access to your payment to support losses and cover costs (early payment requests are processed within 30 days of receiving them)
AgriStability Fee
Your AgriStability Program Fee is based on your Reference Margin and is updated every year. The Program Fee is $315 for every $100,000 of Reference Margin, plus a $55 administrative fee that helps cover the cost of delivering AgriStability. The minimum fee to participate is $100.
An Enrolment Notice outlining your Program Fee for the year will be sent to you every spring. Program Fees are due by April 30th to avoid paying a penalty.
A farm with a $170,000 Reference Margin would pay a $591 program fee for the year.
If you have any questions, AgriStability Customer Support is available:
Toll-free: 1-877-343-2767
Email: AgriStability@gov.bc.ca
Contact information
Agriculture Insurance and Income Protection Programs help manage production risk and stabilize income.
Regional offices are located around the province.
1-877-343-2767
1-877-605-8467
AgriStability@gov.bc.ca
www.gov.bc.ca/AgriStability