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Farm and Hobby Farm Insurance
By Brad Smith, Principal Broker
- Updated October 19, 2026
Cover for rural properties, from a few acres to a working farm
Rural property poses risks a typical home policy was never designed to cover. Sheds, fencing, livestock, machinery, and the people who come onto your land.
VIM Cover is an insurance broker. We arrange farm and hobby farm insurance through a panel of Australian insurers. Ten acres and a few head, or a full working operation, we work out what needs covering and compare the market for it.
We help you make sure:
- Your cover matches what you actually run, not the closest box on a form
- Buildings, fencing, stock and machinery are insured for replacement value at today's prices
- You know how the policy responds to a fire, flood or storm
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Our Insurers
We arrange farm insurance through a panel that includes Allianz, Zurich, CGU, 360 Underwriting, Rural Affinity, Allstate Underwriting and Prevail.
The COVER
What is farm insurance?
Farm insurance is a package policy designed for rural property. Rather than one product, it is a set of sections you choose from: the house and its contents, farm buildings, farm contents and produce, livestock, machinery and vehicles, and liability.
You select the parts that match the property. A lifestyle block with a house, two sheds and a dozen sheep needs a different mix from a 400-hectare cropping enterprise, and the policy is designed to flex between the two.
The product name you will see most often is a farm pack. It exists because home and contents insurance only covers the house and the yard. It does not follow you out to the hay shed, the fencing, the tractor or the cattle.
Cover is subject to the terms, conditions, limits and exclusions of the relevant policy.
FARM TYPES
Working farm or hobby farm?
The majority of this page is relevant to both. This is where they divide, and it is the first question an underwriter will ask.
Working Farm
You are probably a working farm if:
- The property generates real income from its output
- You keep livestock in commercial quantities
- There is machinery beyond a ride-on and some hand tools
- You hire people, even on a casual basis
- You agist other people’s animals, take paying guests or host events
Hobby Farm
You are probably a lifestyle block or hobby farm if:
- The property generates little or no income
- It sits under roughly 50 hectares
- You have a few animals instead of a herd
- It is run for the lifestyle rather than the income
Where the line actually sits
| Provider | Property size | Turnover | Other tests |
|---|---|---|---|
| Allianz Farm Pack | Up to 50 hectares | Under $50,000 a year from primary production | Plus at least one of: farm buildings or machinery, more than six listed livestock, or agistment |
| Farmstyle Insurance | 2 to 100 hectares | Under $100,000 a year | Direct only, no broker involved |
There is no single definition. Each underwriter has its own requirements, and two properties of the same size can be assessed differently depending on what happens on them. They all look at a combination of:
• Land area, usually measured in hectares
• The income the property generates, if any
• The number of livestock, and what sort
• Plant and machinery on the property
• Commercial activity such as agistment, paying guests, events or employees
These are their published criteria as at October 2026, not an industry standard.
A point worth noting at the outset is that working farms are easier to place than hobby farms. Several underwriters write one and not the other. If a property sits close to the line, the side it falls on can affect both your options and your premium.
The most common factors that turn a lifestyle block into a working farm:
- Selling produce, stock or agistment for real money
- Running more than a handful of livestock
- Owning machinery beyond a ride-on and some hand tools
- Accepting paying guests, hosting events or agisting other people’s animals
- Employing anyone, including casually
Not sure where you sit? That is the discussion to have before you buy, not at claim time. Send us the details and we will work it out with you.
Insurance for working farms
A working farm is a business, and the policy is structured like one. You are insuring the house, the buildings, the stock, the machinery, the crop in the ground or in the shed, and the trading itself.
What is typically most important:
- Business interruption. When the dairy shuts down or the shed catches fire, the income goes with it.
- Machinery and breakdown. The cost of downtime at the wrong point in the season is greater than the cost of the repair.
- Commercial livestock, at current value rather than last season’s.
- Liability, including products liability on anything you grow, sell, supply or deliver.
- Your workers, which is workers compensation and sits outside this policy.
Working farms are generally easier to place than hobby farms, and we have more underwriters available for them. Let us know what the operation does and we will take it to the market.
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Insurance for lifestyle blocks and hobby farms
A hobby farm is typically a home, a few sheds, some fencing and a few animals, on land a standard home policy stops short of.
What usually matters most:
- The gap your home policy leaves. Sheds, fencing, livestock and farm machinery all sit outside it.
- Visitors, contractors and wandering animals are not household claims.
- Fencing, which is a much larger replacement cost than most people realise.
- Unattended periods, if the place is a weekender rather than where you live.
Let us be honest: hobby farms are more difficult to place than working farms. Some underwriters write one and not the other, and a few have stopped writing hobby farms altogether. We will let you know quickly whether we can help, rather than leaving you waiting on an answer that is not coming.
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What's Included
What is covered by farm insurance?
The house on the property and what is in it, as a section of the farm policy rather than a separate home policy.
Sheds, barns, stables, silos, yards, tanks and fencing, against insured events.
Farm contents and produce
Tools, equipment, fodder, hay, grain and harvested produce stored on the property.
Livestock
Death or loss of insured animals from insured causes. What is available varies from species to species and insurer to insurer.
Machinery and vehicles
Tractors, headers, quads, utes and implements, on the property and in some cases on the road.
Liability
Injury to third parties and damage to their property caused by your farming activity, including produce you have sold or supplied.
What's not covered?
Insurance is for sudden, unexpected events, not for things that have been going for years.
Flood is often excluded, or offered as an option rather than included automatically. There is more on this below.
Illness and natural death of livestock
Typically excluded or restricted. A specialist policy is usually required for disease cover.
Loss of crops or pasture from drought is not an insurable event under a farm policy.
The cost of fixing your own faulty work is typically not included, although resulting damage may be covered.
Other policy exclusions
Policies may exclude or limit war, terrorism, deliberate acts, fines, penalties and specified activities.
Cover is subject to the terms, conditions, limits and exclusions of the relevant policy. Exclusions differ from insurer to insurer, and on a rural property the differences are substantial. We go through yours before you buy.
Tailor It
Optional covers
These can be included as extra sections, depending on the insurer and the property.
Theft of farm property
Flood, where it is offered for that location
Fencing
Hay, fodder and silage
Loss of income and business interruption
Machinery breakdown
Goods and livestock in transit
Agistment and farm hosting liability
Personal accident for owners and working family members
Not all insurers offer all of these options, and some depend on where the property sits. We tell you which are on the table before you buy.
Is your home and contents policy enough?
Often it is not, and it is usually the size of the land that causes the problem.
The majority of home and contents policies are drafted for a suburban block. Many will not quote beyond a certain land area, and those that do usually cover the house and a limited area around it, and nothing past that.
What is usually not included in a typical home policy:
- Farm buildings. Hay sheds, machinery sheds, stables, dairies and yards.
- Fencing. Usually one of the larger replacement costs after a fire.
- Livestock. Animals are not contents.
- Hay, grain and produce. Not contents either.
- Farm machinery. A tractor is not a household item.
- Liability from farming operations. If someone is hurt by your bull, it is not a household claim.
If you recently purchased acreage and transferred your existing home policy across, it is worth a look. The gap is typically only apparent once something catches fire.
The risks we help protect against
- Bushfire. Buildings, fencing, pasture, stock and machinery, frequently all at once over a large area.
- Flood and storm. Water damage, debris, lost fencing, stock losses, and a property no one can access.
- Shed and hay fires. Baled hay generates its own heat and starts more fires than most people realise.
- Theft. Fuel, tools, quads, trailers and stock taken from properties no one is looking after.
- Machinery breakdown. A tractor or irrigation pump out of service at the wrong time of year.
- Liability. Visitors, contractors, straying livestock, and produce you have sold.
- Whether a policy responds will depend on the circumstances of the incident and the terms, conditions and exclusions of the policy.
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Who We Cover
Farm types we arrange cover for
We can arrange hospitality insurance for venues of all sizes and styles, such as:
- Beef cattle
- Sheep and wool
- Dairy
- Cropping and grain
- Horticulture and orchards
- Vineyards
- Poultry and egg
- Beekeeping
- Equine and agistment
- Market gardens
- Mixed farming
- Lifestyle blocks and hobby farms
Your operation not listed? Talk to us about what you run and what cover is available.
Our Expertise
Flood and bushfire: the fine print worth reading
There are two things on an Australian rural property you need a straight answer on before you sign anything.
Flood. Flood is not automatically part of a farm policy. Some policies have it as an optional section, some offer it only in certain locations, and some exclude it entirely. Allianz, for example, states plainly that flood is not covered under its Farm Pack. If the property has a creek, sits on a flood plain, or has a history, this is the first thing to look at rather than the last.
Bushfire. Fire is typically insured. Where people get into trouble is the sums insured. Fencing can cost tens of thousands across a decent holding, and pasture, fodder and stock all mount up. Underinsurance is very common on rural property.
We would rather have this discussion with you now than explain it after a bad season.
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PRICING
What is the cost of farm insurance?
There is no standard price. Farm premiums are more variable than almost any other type of insurance, since two properties a few kilometres apart can be exposed to entirely different risks.
Things that affect your premium:
- Where the property is, and its bushfire and flood exposure
- The size of the property and the number of insurable buildings
- What you run, and whether it generates any turnover
- Sums insured across buildings, fencing, stock and machinery
- Livestock numbers and type
- Machinery values and ages
- Your claims history
- The excess you select
- Which sections you take, and which you leave off
Farm premium estimates are not published by any of the major providers. Farmstyle, one of the few online-only options in this market, says outright that it will not give ballpark figures because the variation is too wide. That is a fair position, and it also means the only way to find out is a quote on your actual property.
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Why VIM Cover
Why rural property owners choose VIM Cover
We are brokers. Not an insurance company, and not a comparison site.
- We place farm business all the time. Allianz distributes its Farm Pack through brokers only, and a number of underwriters on our panel write properties that direct insurers and comparison sites will not quote.
- We compare options across a panel rather than offering one product
- Before you buy, we go through the exclusions, the flood position and the sums insured
- We support you through the claims process and liaise with the insurer
- You deal with someone who knows your property and your policy
- No hidden policies or surprises
- Real-world tips for your venue
- Real support from quote through to claim
- Australia-wide cover
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“Excellent in helping me with my new policy.”
– Sam West
Tailored To You
What makes the best farm or hobby farm insurance?
There is no single best policy, and anyone who says otherwise is selling rather than advising. It depends on the property, the type of operation you run, and what actually needs covering. A 600-hectare cropping operation and a 20-hectare lifestyle block do not have the same best policy, and no comparison table will tell you which is yours.
Six things separate a good policy from a cheap one:
- If you are not eligible for a policy, you are not covered at all. Before anything else, check the hectare and turnover limits.
- Which sections are included. Some policies combine home, contents and liability and offer farm property as an option. Others do the opposite.
- The flood position for your postcode, not the general answer.
- Sub-limits. Livestock, fencing, hay and goods in your care each carry their own cap, and they vary a long way between insurers.
- The excess. A lower premium may simply mean a higher excess on the day something happens.
- Who the underwriter is, and whether they are still taking new business in this class.
The last one matters more than it used to. Distribution in this class has narrowed, some insurers no longer sell farm cover direct, and several write working farms but not hobby farms. The lowest quote is not worth much if the underwriter behind it will not accept your property.
Machinery, tractors and quads
Farm machinery can be insured within the farm policy or separately. Which is right depends on the value of the machine and how it is used.
Four things worth knowing:
- Agreed value or market value affects the amount you are paid, and it matters most on an older machine that still does its job perfectly well
- Road use requires separate thought. A tractor on a public road is a different risk from one in a paddock, and may need to be noted
- Quads and side-by-sides are a common claim and a common exclusion. Check yours is listed on the policy
- Machinery breakdown is typically an optional section, not an automatic one
For plant and equipment not covered by a farm policy, see equipment insurance.
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Related Cover
Other insurance to consider
Depending on the property and what you do on it, you may also need:
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We are responsive, easy to deal with and results-oriented, which is why businesses select VIM Cover. We do our best to get the right cover at the right price, and we support it when it matters most.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What is a hobby farm for insurance purposes?
Typically a smaller rural property used for lifestyle rather than as a primary income. Insurers define it based on property size and turnover, and most also consider what is on the property, including farm buildings, machinery or livestock numbers.
How many acres is classed as a hobby farm in Australia?
There is no legal definition and each insurer has its own limit. Published examples range from up to 50 hectares with Allianz Farm Pack to between 2 and 100 hectares with Farmstyle, each with its own turnover test. The only reliable answer is the one that applies to the policy you are considering.
Does my home and contents policy cover a rural property?
Often not. Most home policies exclude farm buildings, fencing, livestock, produce and farm machinery, as well as liability from farming activity, and many will not cover above a certain land area.
Is flood covered by farm insurance?
Not automatically. Flood may be optional, may not be available for the location, or may not be included at all. Allianz states that flood is not covered under its Farm Pack. Always check the flood position for your specific property before you buy.
Does farm insurance cover livestock?
It can, typically for death or loss due to insured events such as fire, lightning, accident or electrocution, plus theft, straying and transit. Illness, disease and natural death are generally not included. Cover differs for each species and each insurer.
Is bushfire covered by farm insurance?
Fire, including bushfire, is usually an insured event. The more common problem is underinsurance, because fencing, pasture, fodder and stock cost far more than most owners think.
Do I need farm insurance if the property generates no income?
It is not required by law. Most lifestyle block owners hold it because a standard home policy will not cover the sheds, the fencing, the stock or the machinery, and will not respond to a liability claim arising from farming activity.
What is the cost of farm insurance?
It depends on location, property size, what you run, the sums insured, livestock and machinery values, your claims history and which sections you take. No major provider publishes estimates, because the variation between properties is too wide. The only accurate answer is a quote on the actual property.
Is my tractor covered on a public road?
Not always under the farm section alone. Road use can need to be noted or insured separately. Describe how and where the machine is used so the cover matches it.
What happens if no one lives on the property full time?
Disclose it when you apply. Many policies reduce or suspend parts of the cover once a property has been unattended beyond a set period, often around 90 consecutive days.
Does farm insurance cover crops?
Not typically under a standard farm pack. Crop cover is a separate specialist product, usually limited to certain events such as hail and fire, and drought is not covered. We can arrange crop cover, so let us know what you grow and where and we will look at what is available.
What is not covered by farm insurance?
Common exclusions are wear and tear, lack of maintenance, livestock illness and natural death, drought, the cost of correcting faulty workmanship, deliberate acts, fines and penalties. Some policies exclude flood and some offer it as an option. Each insurer has its own list of exclusions.
Related Guides
How It Works
Get covered with VIM Cover
Tell us about the property and we will compare suitable options across our panel of Australian insurers.
1. Tell us about the property
Where it is, roughly how large, what you run on it, and what buildings and machinery are there.
2. We compare the market
We take the risk to our panel and come back with options, with the differences explained in plain terms.
3. Review the detail
Sections, sums insured, exclusions and the flood position, so you know what you are buying.
4. Cover in place
Once you select an option and the insurer agrees to take the risk, we arrange the policy and send your documents.
5. Reviewed at renewal
Sums insured checked against what things actually cost now, and a real person on any claim.
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