Hail insurance: compensation up to 170 million

Context

In brief

• Compensation of up to 170 million francs expected in 2026
• Aebi fears premiums will be difficult for many companies to afford
• Sugar beets, potatoes and maize: yields up to 30% lower
• Investments are needed to adapt to climate change

Key facts

• Location → Zurich
• Interviewee → Adrian Aebi
• Organization → Grandine Svizzera
• Compensation in 2026 → up to 170 million francs
• Yield losses → up to 30%
• Branches → France, Italy and Liechtenstein

In 2026 Grandine Svizzera expects to have to pay the agricultural sector compensation of up to 170 million francs. The cooperative, which offers insurance coverage for agricultural crops, is preparing for a huge financial loss. The warning was issued by Adrian Aebi, director of Grandine Svizzera, in an interview with the Neue Zürcher Zeitung.

The threshold indicated by the director

Aebi distinguishes between a single unfavorable year and a sequence of damaging years. An insurer, he explains, can cope with an isolated poor result. The pressure changes if the same type of year recurs at short intervals.

«if such a damaging year were to occur every three years in the future, the situation would become difficult»

According to the director, crop losses will in principle remain insurable. The issue concerns the price of coverage: if damage continues to increase, premiums could reach levels that would be difficult for many farms to sustain.

The source already points to an unfavorable combination for the sector. Farmers have to contend with higher irrigation and labor costs, while yields are lower. In 2026, spring-sown crops, including sugar beets, potatoes and maize, recorded yield losses of up to 30% in some cases.

For Aebi, the response involves two levers: higher prices for agricultural products and investments in adapting to climate change. The measures mentioned include more drought-resistant varieties, higher-quality soils and more efficient irrigation systems. Without adjustments and higher revenues, many farms could struggle to sustain rising costs and risks over the long term.

The Società Svizzera di Assicurazione contro la Grandine is among the leading European companies in multirisk insurance for agriculture. Through its branches, it also insures crops in France, Italy and Liechtenstein.

Operational details

What it means for companies' accounts

The practical reading of the case begins with a distinction: the risk does not end with compensation after the damage. If irrigation and labor costs rise together, yields decline and premiums increase, the company's financial stability comes under multiple pressures. The source therefore describes an overall sustainability problem, not merely an insurance coverage issue.

The comparison helps show where the threshold shifts. In principle, losses remain insurable; the difficulty arises when the cost of protection is added to already higher business costs and lower yields. For an agricultural business, the question is not merely whether coverage exists, but whether its price remains compatible with revenues.

Adaptation and revenues

The measures indicated by Aebi can be understood as three directions for investment.

Alongside these choices, the director calls for higher prices for agricultural products. The text presents this indication as a condition for achieving higher revenues, not as an increase in prices that has already been decided. For those living in Switzerland, the distinction is useful: the source does not announce a price increase for consumers, but points to pressure on the sector's finances. The overall picture can be followed through the costo della vita in Svizzera.

Labor is cited as a cost for companies, without any change in individual remuneration. To separate the agricultural balance sheet from the worker's situation, one can consult the guide to the busta paga svizzera.

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Key points

A practical path for reading risk

2026 is the concrete time reference provided by the source. A Swiss farm can use that year to turn the alarm into an orderly assessment, without attributing the same result to all crops or all farms.

Steps to line up

1. Define the scope. Identify the crops sown in spring and separate sugar beets, potatoes and corn. The yield loss of up to 30% is attributed by the source only to certain cases: it should not be treated as a general average.

2. Separate the items. Compare irrigation expenses, labor costs, yields obtained and insurance premiums. The assessment serves to distinguish agricultural damage from the cost necessary to produce and protect oneself.

3. Test two scenarios. First assess the effect of a single unfavorable year and then that of a damaging year recurring every three years. These are the two situations referred to by Aebi; the comparison makes it possible to understand when coverage risks becoming difficult to sustain.

4. Prioritize investments. Examine the three solutions indicated: varieties more resistant to drought, higher-quality land and more efficient irrigation systems. The choice should be linked to the pressure weighing most heavily on the farm's accounts.

5. Verify revenues. Consider the request for higher agricultural prices together with rising costs and risks. The source does not indicate a precise price: the operational point is to measure what level of revenues is needed to sustain the activity in the long term.

This path avoids two misreadings. The 170 million francs are compensation expected for the sector, not a sum allocated to every farm. Likewise, 30% indicates yield losses recorded in certain cases, not the result for all crops sown in spring.

For the personal budget of someone working in Switzerland, the final step is to estimate the available margin with the calcolatore stipendio/imposte.

Source: tio.ch