Two major changes to AgriStability provided producers with an improved safety net, and an agriculture partner with MNP said the response has been very positive.

One change was the removal of reference margin limiting (RML), retroactive to the 2020 tax year.

The other change was how private insurance proceeds are being treated.

RML was created in 2013 and "has made the program less predictable, less bankable, less transparent, and certainly very complicated," according to MNP's website.

RML reduced potential benefits for producers in sectors including grains and oilseeds, cattle operations, and hog farrowing operations, according to MNP.

"AgriStability removed the limit of reference margin, so this was a very big change," said Ryan Stepp, an agriculture partner with MNP in Estevan. "There are two ways the reference margin was calculated - one was this limited way. And then the other was basically gross margin - your revenue less your inputs. So what they did was get rid of this limit margin. And most guys' reference margin was limited. So what this did by them getting rid of that, now the reference margin is calculated under the old method, which is just gross margin."

Stepp said the change led to farmers getting increased coverage levels per acre.

"Some guys maybe got an extra $20 in acre coverage. Even some guys got as high as an extra $100 in acre coverage. So that was a very significant change. Obviously, the higher your reference margin is, the more insurance you have. So at the end of the day, that's what everyone's looking for."

The second change allows producers to stack different types of insurance on top of each other.

In the past, producers that received a payment from a private insurance company had that payment included in their AgriStability allowable income, which reduced AgriStability payments.

"Basically what this has allowed some farms to do is stack insurance on top of each other," said Stepp. "So now if you have your biggest coverage with AgriStability, and you get a hail insurance claim, you're stacking insurances on top together, they no longer work against each other, which is quite significant."

Stepp said stacking insurances on top of each other is popular as it really helps producers mitigate risk.

"I would just say that the feedback's been good from the producers," Stepp said regarding both changes. "They were two very positive changes that at the end of the day is just going to allow farmers to have more coverage through their ArgiStability."