The true cost of excess moisture this year will take time to calculate but the Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corp. is already registering record payouts.
According to Oct. 15 statistics, SCIC logged 12,277 unseeded acreage claims in 2010.
That compares to 18,199 in the 10 previous years combined.
About 98 percent of the claims have been paid and are worth $217.5 million, which also surpassed the 10 year total of $145.7 million. The highest previous one year total was 2006 at $62.6 million.
Shawn Jaques, executive manager of field operations, said the numbers aren’t a complete surprise. SCIC customers estimated 6.8 million acres were left unseeded this year.
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The province has estimated total unseeded acreage at 10 million acres, with two more million damaged by flooding.
“It was a very challenging year for Saskatchewan producers,” Jaques said.
Establishment benefit claims, which pay out when crops don’t establish due to insurable causes, also topped the previous 10-year high at 4,913 claims worth $14 million.
The previous claims record was 2004 when 4,540 were made, but the highest payout was 2002 at $11.3 million.
Jaques said producers also registered 1,582 preharvest yield loss claims as of Oct. 15. So far, 1,771 postharvest claims have been made but that number will rise.
“As (producers) have time now to assess their fields, (and) determine the amount of production they got, I expect that we’ll continue to see an increase in post-harvest claims,” he said.
The deadline to make those claims is Nov. 15.
Jaques said producers who are unable to harvest by that date should call SCIC and arrange an extension of insurance.
Manitoba Agricultural Services Corp. reports 630,000 unseeded acres in that province. There were 2,379 claims and $28 million was paid out. The worst year was 2005 when 1.4 million acres went unseeded and $58 million was paid to producers for claims.
Alberta reports 1,206 claims on 175,898 acres and payouts of $7 million.
Meanwhile, the Saskatchewan crop report issued Oct. 21 said 97 percent of the crop is now in the bin and most of the remainder is swathed or ready to combine.
West-central areas were least advanced at 95 percent complete.
Jaques said quality is a concern and he expects claims on that basis.
The corporation insured 21.44 million acres in 2010. Canola led the pack at 5.9 million acres, followed by hard red spring wheat at 4.8 million acres, lentils at 2.4 million acres and durum at two million.
Premiums paid over the last few years have been higher than the indemnity paid so the corporation has a surplus to help pay for this year’s claims, he added.
Meanwhile, producers made 20,886 applications to the Excess Moisture Program under AgriRecovery, announced in July. The deadline was Sept. 30.
About 94 percent of those claims have been paid for a total of $231.8 million.
Some producers are now sending in amendments to original claims, Jaques said.
Overall, SCIC staff has been able to deal with most claims quickly, even modifying some procedures to speed up the adjusting process. It was obviously too wet to seed in some places.
“We paid some claims by producer declaration and then followed that up with some verifications after,” Jaques said.
Adjusters have to ensure that the corporation is paying legitimate claims.
“I’m of the opinion that producers do everything possible to get a crop but part of SCIC’s role is to ensure that causes of loss are natural causes of loss, and caused by something like excess moisture or any of the other perils that we cover,” he said.
