Some flood-stricken Saskatchewan farmers will receive as much as $50 per unseeded acre through crop insurance, government officials in Ottawa and Regina said Monday.
Federal agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief and Saskatchewan agriculture minister Eric Upshall announced farmers may apply for a $25 per acre supplemental crop insurance benefit, in addition to the $25 already available through basic insurance.
All producers who have seeded less than 95 percent of their normal acreage will qualify for the extra $25, which will be cost-shared by Saskatchewan and Ottawa.
Manitoba farmers were still waiting to hear if their government will participate in a similar arrangement.
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Producers who don’t have crop insurance are also eligible to apply. That means some producers, if they qualify for an advance through the Agricultural Income Disaster Assistance program and participate in crop insurance, could receive up to $75 per acre.
“What we asked for was $50 an acre,” said David Schnell, who farms at Lampman, Sask., and is reeve of the Browning rural municipality. “Initially we had suggested that the $50 come from outside the existing programs.”
But Schnell said that disappointment may be tempered by another program change. The ministers announced that the deductible was reduced to five from 10 percent of the acreage a producer intended to seed.
“After going to some of these meetings … and looking out in the crowd at some of these people and how devastated they are, I would think a lot of these people that are going to get this payment are going to feel good about it,” Schnell said.
Rodney Godenir disagrees.
The Antler, Sask., farmer said 45 percent of the producers in his area don’t have crop insurance so they will qualify only for $25. He said few consider the AIDA advance any help, because they worry about having to pay it back later.
“Farmers aren’t happy with it, no,” Godenir said after a trip to his local elevator. “Three or four of my neighbors said this isn’t going to keep me on the farm.”
Saskatchewan Wheat Pool director Henry Seidlitz said fixed and variable costs for cereal growers range between $100 and $110 per acre, and the number is higher for oilseeds and special crops.
“Farmers will see it as better than nothing, but it’s not going to meet their needs in the long term by any means,” Seidlitz said.
He wants a program that includes crop insurance, income stabilization and a disaster component to get farmers through bad weather and low prices.
Meanwhile, Manitoba deputy agriculture minister Don Zasada said Monday that provincial minister Harry Enns was offered the same deal as Saskatchewan during a Saturday morning call with Vanclief and Upshall.
“He asked how this would be paid for and when he was told from existing funds, he was not sure there was money there in our accounts,” Zasada said.
He noted Manitoba has already promised farmers $50 per unseeded acre, and negotiations continue on how much Ottawa will pay for the second $25 of that promise.
In Saskatchewan, Ottawa will pay 60 percent and the province 40 percent. Saskatchewan’s portion will come from a surplus in its safety net account.
