Farm News
Rural Insurance announces new capacity partnership with Zurich Insurance
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RURAL INSURANCE , THE Harrogate-based specialist agricultural insurer , has announced a new long-term capacity deal with Zurich Insurance plc .
The five-year deal worth £ 41m will see Zurich Insurance plc providing capacity for Rural ’ s Farm , Farm Motor , Rural Business Motor , Livestock and Hailstorm products from 1st November 2017 , replacing XL Catlin as Rural ’ s primary capacity provider .
The new deal does not change existing capacity arrangements for its Renewable Energy , Motor Breakdown , Agricultural Contractors Liability products .
Commenting on the new partnership , David Cahoon ,
Underwriting and Technical Director at Rural Insurance , comments : “ We are delighted with this new arrangement which brings Rural a partner with more than 30 years ’ experience in farming , an international footprint and an underwriting appetite that will enable Rural to advance its ambitions for the ever-diversifying farming sector .”
Conor Brennan , Head of Retail General Insurance at Zurich Insurance plc concludes : “ To be working with Rural is extremely gratifying . Our detailed industry knowledge combined with their robust customer relationships will allow us to work towards the common goal of mitigating and protecting against agricultural risk .”
IMPORTANCE OF FARMER CLUSTERS CELEBRATED AT NATIONAL CONFERENCE
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FARMER CLUSTERS ARE GROUPS OF farmers who work together to decide which threatened species to conserve on their farms .
The importance of farmers working together to nurture wildlife on their farms was highlighted at a national conference organised by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust ( GWCT ) in conjunction with Natural England and held in the Royal Geographical Society , London , on 12 October .
The event , sponsored by the Ernest Cook Trust , attracted more than 300 people , and saw farmers , land managers , gamekeepers , facilitators , advisors and policy makers learn more about the Farmer Cluster initiative which was designed by Teresa Dent , CBE , CEO of GWCT .
Following the welcome from chairman of Natural England , Andrew Sells , who chaired the morning ’ s programme , a video message from HRH the Prince of Wales , Prince Charles was presented .
Sir John Lawton gave the keynote address expressing how the Farmer Cluster initiative aims to be ‘ bigger , better and more joined up ’ than anything before . He said : “ There ’ s no need for a pointless argument between what ’ s better for conservation , land sharing or rewilding . We ’ re all rewilding , we should think of it as a process where we bring back as much as we can , where we can .”
Other speakers , including Hampshire farmer Rob Shepherd , explained how involving the entire family in his conservation decisions led to him making space for adders on his land as his 11-year-old son loved reptiles . As he pointed out , “ agriculture shapes the landscape but not at the cost of certain species ”.
Involving the wider farming family in this initiative was stressed by several speakers and seen as hugely important in making this conservation project work .
The willingness of farmers to engage with conservation was noted by Andrew Paul , Suffolk farmer and facilitator , who spoke about the Sandland ’ s project and recalled how he approached 60 farmers to get on-board , - only one failed to appreciate the concept .
Additionally , he mentioned that one farmer in the scheme saw stone curlew return to his land after a 40-year decline .
Such conservation successes will be even more notable and widespread , predicted Tara Challoner of the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust , when not only farmers but also farm managers , gamekeepers and estate owners are also fully engaged in conservation efforts on farmland .
The day was summed up perfectly by the closing address from Mrs Dent , who asked the question that all farmers interested in joining a cluster need to ask themselves “ What wildlife do I want on my farm ?” and then all they need to do is take the steps to make it happen by joining a farmer cluster .
8 Oct / Nov 2017 www . farmers-mart . co . uk