Saskatchewan farmers getting relief thanks to "extraordinary" insurance measures

The federal and provincial governments have announced that the Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation will be implementing extraordinary measures for support during the current dry season.

Additional acres of low-yielding cereal and pulse crops will now be able to be diverted to feed. Crop producers will be able to make timely decisions to make additional feed available to graze, bale, or silage.

“This change to the low yield threshold aims to help producers make critical decisions about how to move forward with their crop and feed requirements,” said the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, federal Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. “Many producers have been in this unfortunate situation before, due to the risks associated with climate change, which is why we are so committed to finding agricultural innovations that will increase resiliency going forward.”

"We are seeing dry pockets and grasshopper damage throughout the province, particularly in the southwest." Minister of Agriculture David Marit said. "We are committed to supporting our farmers and ranchers to lessen the impact of these challenging conditions, and I want to encourage crop producers to again work with neighbouring livestock producers to make feed available. This same initiative was implemented in 2021, resulting in over 345,000 acres of additional crop redirected to feed."  

When crops are severely damaged and the appraised yield falls below an established threshold level, the yield is reduced to zero for the Crop Insurance claim.  In response to the feed shortage this year, SCIC is doubling the low yield appraisal threshold values allowing customers to salvage their cereal or pulse crops as feed, without negatively impacting future individual coverage.  

For example, the 2023 threshold level for oats is 10 bushels per acre. With a doubled low-yield appraisal, the threshold increases to 20 bushels per acre for a producer intending to utilize the oats for feed. The claim is determined using a zero-bushel yield and the original 20-bushels appraised yield is used to update future Crop Insurance coverage.

Before customers begin to graze, bale, or silage their damaged crop, producers should contact their local SCIC office.