This week’s Wheatbelt fires in Western Australia have destroyed tens of thousands of hectares and hundreds of livestock – and they’re not over yet.
“In the next week they’re talking about quite high temperatures in those areas so there’s still a concern about this flaring up and coming towards properties again. So it’s certainly not over,” said Paul Wilkes (pictured), managing director of Country Wide Insurance Brokers.
Wilkes leads a staff of 36 across seven brokerages, the majority in the Wheatbelt. For farm and crop insurance, he said, they’re the largest broker in WA.
Wilkes said from a business perspective the proportion of their farmers caught up in the fires is small, but the impact on them is “very bad.”
So bad that he’d like the government to help.
“Absolutely. It would be great if you saw a state or federal government step in and give some financial relief, especially in this interim period because at the moment these fires are still live in some areas,” he said.
Wilkes said before the fires, farmers across the state were already under intense financial pressures.
“These farmers are finding it tough because they’ve also had increased price pressures on things like fertilizer, chemicals, fuel and equipment,” he said.
Insurance premiums have already risen sharply.
“So you’d imagine then with these types of catastrophe losses [from the fires] there’ll be even greater pressure coming,” said Wilkes.
Farm and crop insurance premiums, he said, have already increased by up to 20%. For farmers who have made claims, those increases have reached 60%.
“We feel for the farmers because our employees actually live in these communities,” said Wilkes. “So they understand what these people are going through. Some of our people are even voluntary firefighters so they really get it.”
Damage reports are still coming in, he said, but farming clients have reported “fairly major” destruction.
“So the fire has pretty much gone through the farm. So, it’s not like it’s just affected one shed. Where they [the fires] have hit they’ve been pretty devastating.”
Wilkes said entire homesteads can be destroyed including all the infrastructure like sheds, tanks, farm machinery and any grain or hay stored on the farm.
There are news reports of hundreds of livestock dying in the fires.
“So, the poor farmers that have sheep, they’ve got to deal with the devastation of those sheep that either have been lost or need to be put down because of how injured they are, which is beyond insurance, of course,” he said.
The only fortunate element of these fires is that they’ve struck when the harvest is over. The crops in this region of WA are winter crops.
“So, all of the broadacre crops, things like wheat, canola, barley and lupin. They’re all grown from August up until late November and into December,” said Wilkes.
All those crops are already harvested.
“So once they’re actually sold and they’re off the farm and they’re in the hands of the grain handling crowds there’s no more liability for the client,” he said.
However, what’s left in the fields after harvest is called stubble, and, he said, that’s badly burned by the fires.
“The fields or the paddocks are then more susceptible to erosion and the nutrients can be removed. So there’ll be an issue then as we lead up to seeding around April,” he said.
Wilkes said there are no insurance products that cover damage to the stubble.
“When a crop is in the ground you can insure it, but really only for two perils and they are fire and hail,” he said. “So, yes, if there was a crop in the ground at the time of the fire and that farmer had their crop insured, yes, they would have been covered.”
Right now, he said, the main concern is for farmers who have lost their homes.
“Just imagine! Everything in your home is gone,” he said. “Any financial help would be great because with any insurance claim there’s always a period of time where the loss is assessed. So, anything in the interim from the government would be welcome.”
