Untimely rain in Alberta and Saskatchewan created headaches for many farmers this year but did not increase the number of crop insurance claims filed.
Alberta expects an average year for crop insurance claims while Saskatchewan claim numbers are down substantially from 2004. In Manitoba, crop insurance claims are expected to top $300 million.
Merle Jacobsen of the Agricultural Financial Services Corp. in Alberta noted significant progress made in combining in early November, jumping to 98 percent complete from 87.
Pockets of land remain unharvested west of Lethbridge and Stettler and near Oyen.
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“Overall yields are well above average but quality is somewhat below average,” said Jacobsen, who faced his own struggles with fall weather on his farm near Olds.
“You’d just nicely get going and get a rain and then you’re off again,” he said.
Much of Saskatchewan faced similar fall rain, but wasn’t hit by last August’s early frost, which led to 30,000 claims compared to this year’s 8,000, said Stan Benjamin, general manager of Saskatchewan Crop Insurance.
About 1,000 farms have received extensions until spring for swathed crops that are expected to stay in the field all winter.
Rain delayed seeding and harvest in northern areas, with crops still in the field near Tisdale and Prince Albert and north of North Battleford.
There were 2,800 unseeded acreage claims in 2005, amounting to $14 million, compared to last year’s 4,000 valued at $30 million. Pre-harvest claims were also down to 2,000 this summer from 10,000 in past years.
In total, Saskatchewan farmers received $377 million in payouts in 2004.
“I doubt we will get to that much, but for the producers in those (northern) areas, it’s still devastating,” he said.
Southeastern areas were wet again and other areas also had plentiful precipitation that downgraded quality.
The crop insurance deadline for post-harvest claims is Nov. 30 in Alberta and Nov. 15 in Saskatchewan.
