SWIFT CURRENT, Sask. – Allan Oliver has a few ideas about how to improve crop insurance.
Coping with drought and gophers for the last four years has shown him the program’s shortcomings, at least on his farm.
The Aneroid farmer brought his list to the first of 10 public meetings to get farmers’ views about the Saskatchewan program.
The consultation wraps up June 30 and consultants Meyers Norris Penny will provide a final report by Sept. 30.
Oliver was one of only four farmers at the first meeting. Perhaps Game 5 of the Stanley Cup final was to blame.
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Keith Johnston, who farms at Pennant, said he wasn’t sure why more hadn’t attended. But good insurance should be a priority, he said.
For him, it’s all about accurate pricing. He said there’s no reason why the insured base price for field peas is $5.78 a bushel when a grower can contract them for $10.
Even opting for the variable price coverage doesn’t work when last year the price used by crop insurance for red lentils was 17 cents a pound and the contracts were worth 23 cents.
He suggested Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corp. use private consultants rather than Agriculture Canada to obtain prices.
Oliver had the same concern about pea prices but his biggest criticism was of adjusters. He said there seem to be some gaps in training and the way crops are actually adjusted. Twice in a row adjusters miscalculated by more than 400 bu. the amount of stored grain in a bin.
He queried the requirement to harvest crops that are clearly not there. An adjuster told him a lentil crop would yield at least six bu. per acre but it went 11/4, Oliver said.
He also said that forage coverage shouldn’t require a cut. Right now no cut means no insurance, he said, but in a drought area producers won’t cut it.
