There is no business that's quite like farming. Whether you make your entire living farming, do it part-time, or have a hobby farm, few other companies experience similar levels of work and payoff. Because of the unique nature of the farming industry, there are often special regulations and processes meant to accommodate farmers. One of these is farm plates.
Ontario farmers can get these specialized plates to put on their farming vehicles. But why get a farm plate? Isn't it just a fancy type of license plate? Our Morison Insurance experts will tell you there are several farm plate benefits that Ontario farmers should be aware of. We break down what a farm plate is and how having a farm plate benefits local Ontario farmers and farmworkers.
Before we discuss the benefits of farm plates, we must first define them and explain why an Ontario farmer might get one.
According to Service Ontario, a farm plate is a designated farm-licensed plate for a farmer's motor vehicle used to transport farm products, commodities, supplies, equipment, and building and maintenance items. To be eligible for a farm plate in Ontario, you must meet the following farm license plate requirements:
Farmers purchasing new vehicles will often find that a benefit of farm plates is that the dealer will complete the registration once you have adequate documentation. However, if you are purchasing a used vehicle for which you need farm plates, you will need to register it with Service Ontario within six days of the vehicle sale. Your experienced broker at Morison Insurance will be able to help you through the registration and auto insurance process so you can enjoy the benefits of farm plates sooner rather than later. We'll explain the registration process in greater detail further down.
A vehicle with a farm plate must be used for a farming operation's transportation of goods, supplies and equipment. Passenger vehicles such as sports cars, SUVs, and minivans are not eligible for farm plates in Ontario, because they cannot easily transport these things, and they do not classify as a commercial motor vehicle.
Farm trucks, including pickup trucks that meet the RGW requirement, can be considered commercial vehicles in Ontario, as these types of vehicles allow you to transport—either in the truck bed or by the trailer—farm goods and agricultural products, supplies, and equipment for the purpose of your farming operation. Some types of farm products excluded from this list are products that need to be preserved by way of freezing, pickling, cooking, smoking, or curing, other than cured tobacco leaves, as they require specialized storage and transportation methods that are not found in your standard pickup trucks or trailers. Vehicles with farm plates also cannot transport logs, pulp wood, sand, gravel or stone.
However, a farmer can use this farm-plated truck or towed trailer for personal use, such as transporting personal and household items, farm building and maintenance items, or personal recreational vehicles.
You can only be paid to use your farm-plated truck to transport these items between the months of September to November for other farmers; for the other nine months of the year, you would have to do it free of charge. There are also no distance limits for vehicles with farm plates, so you don't need to worry about travelling too far away from your home farm when picking up supplies or replacing farm equipment.
If you have any questions about the limitations or benefits of farm plates, speak to your Morison Insurance broker. They'll be happy to explain how getting farm license plates may benefit your farming or agricultural operations.
There are more to farm plate benefits than just getting a fancy license plate for your farming vehicle. As explained above, a farm license plate is a special classification, and as such, it comes with certain rules and regulations that, as a farmer, you may like to take advantage of to benefit your business.
Ultimately, there are three benefits of farm plates our experts would like to share, which are:
Every vehicle on the road, including commercial vehicles, needs to be registered, and commercial and farm vehicles need to pay a plate fee in order to register. However, one benefit of farm plates is that the registration renewal fee is much lower than that of commercial plate renewals.
The amount of savings a farming vehicle owner might receive depends on your vehicle's weight. If your vehicle weighs between 3,000 and 3,500 kg, this farm vehicle benefit would see you pay $157 compared to $265.25—a savings of $108.25. This farm vehicle benefit increases as your vehicle weight gets heavier, so for a vehicle that weighs between 63,001-63,500 kg, you would pay $1,245.50 for a farm plate, compared to $4,696 for a commercial one—that's $3,447.50 in savings! Ontario farmers will easily save thousands over the vehicle's lifetime with this benefit of farm plates.
Having a driver's license doesn't mean you can automatically drive every type of vehicle. Ontario driver's licenses restrict the type of vehicle you can generally drive, so for more specialized vehicles, such as buses or commercial trucks, you will often need to get a special designation on your driver's license.
However, one benefit of farm plates is that it allows farmers or farm employees that hold a G or G2 licence to drive a class D farm-plated vehicle owned by the farm.
According to Service Ontario, a G license is classified as being able to drive any car, van, small truck or combination of vehicle and towed vehicle that weighs up to 11,000 kilograms (kg), provided the towed vehicle is not over 4,600 kg, along with a pickup truck towing a house trailer exceeds 4,600 kg but does not exceed a combined weight of 11,000 kg. A G2 license holder may drive the above vehicles subject to certain conditions.
A Class D vehicle, according to Service Ontario, is a motor vehicle that exceeds 11,000 kg Gross Weight or Registered Gross Weight, along with any truck or truck/trailer combination, provided the towed vehicle is not over 4,600 kg. Because of this benefit of farm plates, Ontario farmers and their employees are able to have greater flexibility when operating plated vehicles for farm purposes, and you don't have to be concerned with getting amendments to your existing driver's license, which can be a time-consuming and lengthy process.
While there are some limitations to this—for instance, if the vehicle in question has air breaks, the driver must have a call Z air break endorsement on their driver's license—with this benefit of farm plates, Ontario farmers will have peace of mind knowing they don't need to worry about getting a driver's license amendment for something you may only regularly use a few months of the year.
According to the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act (CDA), sections 1.21 to 1.24 and 1.35 contain several exemptions for farm vehicles transporting dangerous goods.
For instance, according to section 1.21 of the act, sections relating to documentation, dangerous goods safety marks, means of containment, and training do not apply if a farm vehicle transporting them has ensured safe containment and means of transporting them, the items have a gross mass 1,500 kg or under; are to be or have been used by the farmer for farming purposes; travel distance transport will be 100 km or less, and goes not include certain explosives, flammable gas, infectious substances, or radioactive materials.
This benefit of farm plates allows the plated truck to transport amounts of 1,500 kg or under of dangerous goods, 6,000 L or under of agricultural pesticides in a container, or 10,000 litres or under of Anhydrous Ammonia in a container, so long as the items are being transported at a distance of less than 100 km, without the need for documentation, placarding and driver-training requirements. Additionally, this farm plate benefit also allows for an open farm-plated vehicle, such as a pickup truck, to transport 2,000 L or under of gasoline or diesel in secure, approved containers.
While vehicles do have to display Class 3 Dangerous Goods Safety Marks that are visible from outside the plated vehicle, this benefit of farm plates allows farmers to forgo a lengthy approval process and allows them to transport needed materials to their farm. This benefit of farm plates is handy, especially if you need to make multiple trips to pick up essential farming materials or don't want to drive your plow down to the local gas station.
Now you know the benefits of farm plates; you may be wondering how to apply for them. To do so, you need to register an appropriate vehicle with Service Ontario. Once it's registered, you will get a farm vehicle permit, license plate, and license plate sticker.
Keep in mind that due to concerns about people taking advantage of the program, as of Jan. 1, 2025, vehicle owners who are looking for farm plates for a new commercial vehicle will need to provide documentation to show they have a farming operation. Existing vehicles with farm plates are not affected by this change; it is only for new ones.
The documentation you will need to show Service Ontario includes:
All of your membership cars or letters must match the name on the permit, with the exception of some cases where it is the farm business name. If you have any questions or concerns about the permitting process, your Morison Insurance broker can help guide you through the process.
This content is written by our Morison Insurance team. All information posted is merely for educational and informational purposes. It is not intended as a substitute for professional advice. Should you decide to act upon any information in this article, you do so at your own risk. While the information on this website has been verified to the best of our abilities, we cannot guarantee that there are no mistakes or errors.
