Ask a farmer anywhere in South Africa whether the climate has changed and you won’t get a theoretical answer. You’ll hear about dry spells that stretch longer than they used to, rainfall that arrives in intense bursts instead of steady cycles, veld fires that move fast in dry, windy conditions, and heavy rains that damage buildings and infrastructure. The risks aren’t new to South African farming, but the trends suggest the frequency and intensity are shifting.
If you’ve spent years building and maintaining what you have, a changing climate hits close to home. What it costs to repair or replace what you rely on doesn’t stand still, and the pressure on your farm won’t ease just because your insurance hasn’t been reviewed.
Insured isn’t always the same as covered
When costs start rising, they rarely come down again. Repairing or replacing buildings and equipment after severe weather often costs more than it did a few years ago.
Infrastructure that coped well enough in milder weather conditions, from irrigation systems to the machinery you rely on every day, faces greater strain as the climate becomes more extreme.
But insurance cover is often renewed without being properly reviewed, and over time a gap quietly opens between what’s listed on your insurance schedule and what getting back on your feet would realistically require. You may not see that gap until an unforeseen event forces it into view.
Cover set during a run of mild conditions may no longer reflect what recovery costs after a severe one, and insurance cover that once matched your situation closely can fall behind as the risk environment changes.
Cover that works as hard as your farm
If your insurance cover has fallen behind, it doesn’t have to stay that way. Old Mutual Insure AgriPlus is designed for the way your farm actually operates. It’s structured around what your farm depends on, including protection for machinery, equipment, household contents, farm buildings and contents against loss or damage.
Cover can also be extended to include own goods in transit, irrigation systems on wheels, and spread of fire under the liability section, if chosen.
The farm that shaped you
You don’t farm without it leaving a mark on you. The unforeseen events and setbacks, the hard lessons absorbed, the slow work of building something that holds, your resilience and passion for farming, and years of knowledge passed down across generations all carry something of the effort it took to get here.
Making sure your insurance cover still reflects the reality of your current and future needs is how you protect it.
A regular, open conversation with your broker about what has changed is one of the simplest ways to keep your insurance cover working as hard as you are.
Protect what built you. Chat to your broker about Old Mutual Insure AgriPlus.
