The Chicken Farmers of Ontario marketing board is expanding its disease insurance program to cover outbreaks of reovirus.
The plan was launched in 2018 to cover outbreaks of avian influenza.
The insurance is offered by the Poultry Insurance Exchange (PIE), a reciprocal which delivers insurance and risk management services to members of the poultry industry in Canada.
“Ontario has experienced the impact that disease poses for our sector,” said chicken bosrrd chairman Murray Opsteen, and “we know that avian influenza is a global threat to poultry production and the entire Canadian chicken industry has been managing through the most recent outbreaks since onset in the spring of 2022.
“Reovirus is a threat as well, which is why the CFO Board has been working to provide this additional insurance peril – bolstering our risk management strategy and further supporting our farmers.”
The new PIE reovirus insurance coverage includes elements such as veterinary fees, laboratory fees, cleaning and disinfection fees and a quantification model designed to assist farmers with loss of income.
“PIE is pleased to begin offering reovirus insurance to CFO farmers,” said incoming PIE general manager André Bourbonnière.
Denise Hockaday, the chicken board’s general manager, said “this new insurance peril is a positive advancement within our risk management framework and is being implemented as a deliverable of the 2023-2025 CFO Strategic Plan.”
“We would like to thank the Ontario chicken industry value chain, namely the Association of Ontario Chicken Processors and Ontario Broiler Hatching Egg & Chick Commission, for their advocacy and support of this important initiative.”
