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Taking on La Niña with weather insurance
An Aussie start-up is arming agribusinesses across the country with the financial tools to better manage weather risk.
After three consecutive La Niña events over 2020-2022, and a fourth now predicted, the wetter-than-usual conditions put weather insurance uppermost in the minds of agribusiness owners.
La Niña’s reemergence would mean increasing odds that Australia will face long periods of above average rain and cooler temperatures by the second half of 2024.
“I know what it’s like to have a great crop ruined by too much rain at harvest time,” says Dale Schilling, Founder and CEO of Hillridge, whose technology underpins real-time weather insurance tailored to agribusinesses, big or small, across Australia.
“If La Niña comes to pass, this will be the fourth one in five years. That’s only the second time that’s happened since 1900. It’s a big threat this year, particularly for east coast growers – but now, farmers can do something about that risk.”
Hillridge provides primary producers with the latest financial tools to better manage weather risk – be it too hot, too cold, too dry, or too wet. It’s an affordable data-led systematic approach that aims to mitigate risk in a way that’s both meaningful and valuable for farmers.
Instead of the traditional insurance model, which typically only covers fire or hail and sees farmers undergo a lengthy claims and damage assessment process, weather insurance offers an organised and automatic claims process that offers quick payouts in the case of a severe weather event, authenticated against weather bureau data.
As the first automated platform for weather insurance in Australia, farmers can now directly log in online to get quotes in real time, and purchase cover from our insurance partners.
Any agribusiness, including cropping, livestock, horticulture, or viticulture, can buy cover.
“Farming goes back many generations on both sides of my family,” says Dale.
“Every farming business is different, so it was important to me that farmers and their agronomists or advisors can easily use our system to come up with a solution that is right for them.”
Hillridge software analyses the risk profile of the individual farm and provides “pin drop pricing” in seconds. The offered is based on the likelihood of poor weather based on where and what you farm, not your claims history. Once you pay that premium, you’re covered.
The decision to pay a claim comes from a trusted weather data source, not the arbitrary judgement of an insurance assessor. If that weather event occurs your payout is fixed, fast and guaranteed.
Website: https://weatherrisk.hillridge.com.au/
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Trace minerals are required for optimal growth, reproduction, and immunity. Optimising trace mineral status relying solely on oral supplements across a herd may fail because of variation in individual intake and reduced absorption due to antagonism of other ration components and minerals. The use of injectable trace mineral supplements has been associated with positive reproductive outcomes including improved conception rate, increased odds of pregnancy and greater final in calf rate. A study conducted on 2,168 dairy cows, administered injectable trace minerals, four weeks prior to calving and again four weeks prior to the start of mating showed treated animals had a 3.3 per cent greater final in-calf rate, and a reduced time from start of mating to conception, compared to control animals 1 . The Importance of B12 Dr Carl Eden, Technical Services Veterinarian with Boehringer Ingelheim says “Vitamin B12 is sometimes referred to as a ‘super vitamin’ because it is only required in very small amounts but vital to many essential metabolic pathways. However, demand for B12 can vary considerably during the year and we see serum levels of B12 fall at critical times, such as the first few months after calving.” Vitamin B12 contains cobalt, so deficiency in cobalt can lead to deficiency in vitamin B12 because ruminants get most of their B12 as a byproduct of ruminal fermentation where the bacteria in their rumen assemble B12 from cobalt for use by the cow. Sub-optimal trace mineral and vitamin B12 status at calving, mating, and drying off has been shown to negatively impact growth, reproduction, and immunity. Using a trace mineral injectable containing vitamin B12 can improve trace mineral and vitamin B12 status at these critical times. Marks-Min with Vitamin B12 – The Evidence In the largest trace element study to date, Marks-Min Injectable Trace Mineral with Vitamin B12 demonstrated remarkable results when compared to a reference trace mineral injection. “Given the differences between Marks-Min and other products on the market, we wanted to generate a compelling data set to demonstrate how effective it was compared to the pioneer product. We entrusted this work to a third-party research company” says Dr Eden. “We chose farms that were at the top of their game from a reproductive perspective. We made sure that the farms had no evidence of trace element or vitamin B12 deficiencies or excess.” Across all outcomes of interest, Marks-Min demonstrated clear non-inferiority when compared to the reference product. Outcomes measured included submission, pregnancy and conception rates, and six week in-calf rate. Marks-Min demonstrated it is highly suited as an alternative treatment to the reference product. Reference: 1. Hawkins, D., and B. V. S. Franklin. New Zealand Dairy Veterinarians Newsletter 24 (2007): 12-16 Company website: livestockfirst.com.au Company email address: CustomerCare.Australia@boehringer-ingelheim.com Company video: https://vimeo.com/1138807630?fl=pl&fe=cm
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