The Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corp. is beefing up its forage protection program for this year with higher coverage.
Provincial agriculture minister Lyle Stewart said forage insurance is sometimes overlooked.
“2016 insured prices are up more than 30 percent and forage establishment coverage has increased from $55 an acre to $70 per acre,” he said.
SCIC announced details of this year’s program Feb. 25 and said it is offering the highest coverage in its 55-year history.
The 2016 budget is $166 million, and coverage levels are increasing to a record $216 per acre on average, up from $183 per acre, or 18 percent, from last year.
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Premiums per acre are rising 11 percent on average to $7.84 per acre from $7.06 in 2015.
“The premium rate that we actually charged producers went down about seven percent because of our good fund balance ($1.6 billion),” said SCIC president Shawn Jacques.
“The insured value per crop went up by 15 percent, and there’s also an increase in the area yields that we offer producers (of) around two percent.… That would be why the coverage per acre went up about 18 percent.”
Expanded options for fababean coverage are new this year. The insurable area has expanded province-wide to reflect the rapid increase in acres of fababeans beyond northern growing regions.
As well, producers of Khorasan wheat can now receive individual coverage for their farm, which was previously based on area averages.
Camelina has received an establishment benefit value of $30 per acre, which SCIC said reflects the experience that growers have gained with this new oilseed crop.
Establishment benefit values are also increasing for soybeans, lentils, barley and Khorasan.
Ryan Beierbach, chair of the Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association, said changes to the forage insurance program are more in line with what producers want.
SCIC said it has removed the cap on the forage insurance variable and in-season price option, which will allow for an increase in the market price of forage to be reflected in the claim payments of producers who select those options.
