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Hail can be a heartbreaker.
“You’ve got this beautiful crop out there and the next thing you know a black cloud is overhead and you look out an hour later and there is nothing left,” said Bruce Low, chief executive officer of AG Direct Hail Insurance.
Prairie farmers can buy insurance through private or government run programs to protect their crops. The rates are offered in the second week of May based on what they pay on a per acre basis. Policies expire in October.
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“Every year farmers spend a lot of money to protect their crops against hail,” he said.
The Canadian Crop Hail Association reported that several significant storms occurred in 2015, but the overall impact was less severe than a year ago.
The average claim in 2015 was $12,645, down from $18,628 in 2014.
The number of major storms was down from the average. Hail was reported on 94 days, and the three most significant events hit earlier in the growing season. The size and severity of storms was much less than usual.
Year-over-year comparisons show overall prairie premium totals of $274 million, down from $316 million in 2014.
Manitoba fared the worst in 2015 with recorded losses of $46 million compared to $16 million in 2014.
In Saskatchewan, payouts totaled $71 million for more than 6,900 claims. This is down from 2014.
Alberta experienced an average hail year with $50 million in payouts, nearly half that of 2014 when $99 million was paid out for crop losses.
Did you know?
- The heaviest hailstones on record weighed up to one kilogram and reportedly killed 92 people in the Gopalganj area of Bangladesh on April 14, 1986.
- The most expensive hailstorm in Canadian history occurred July 12, 2010, in Calgary. It tallied more than $400 million in damages to homes, vehicles and businesses.
- That hailstorm also wiped out more than 222,394 acres of crops near Strathmore and Hussar, Alta., and caused crop damage claims totalling $18.5 million.
- The previous claims record of $340 million was set in 1991, also in Calgary.
