In the words of 1970s pop icon Meat Loaf, two out of three ain’t bad.
That’s how the Manitoba Pulse Growers Association fared when it came to having its concerns add-ressed by Manitoba Crop Insurance Corporation.
MPGA executive director Nancy Penner is pleased the agency has removed variety restrictions on soybeans for 2004.
In the past, only certain lines of the crop were eligible for coverage but now it’s wide open. That’s the way it should be, said Penner.
Crop insurance officials were concerned about poor performance of some lines since it is a relatively new crop for the province. But Penner said farmers will figure that out on their own.
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“They’re the best judges of what varieties to select,” she said.
The coverage area for soybeans has also been expanded, but the seeding date deadlines for zones 1 and 2 remain intact.
The second concession pulse growers received was that a separate individual productivity index or IPI will be calculated for each of the seven different categories of beans covered by crop insurance. Before, crop insurance used one IPI for all classes.
“It gives you better coverage on individual bean types rather than having them all pooled together,” said Penner.
For example, the new rules will eventually allow a good black bean grower to get better coverage levels for that particular crop than under the old system. But it could be a while before growers feel the full effect of the rule change.
As in the past, IPIs will be computed using the previous 10 years of yield data. But crop insurance officials will only start using individual bean class results in 2002, so for the first while it will by-and-large remain a group average measure.
“We would have liked them to have maybe gone back another couple of years,” said Penner.
The one item the pulse grower group asked for and didn’t get was a new way of calculating bean claim settlements.
Some of the group’s members are upset that their final settlements are based on cash tickets, or what they sold the product for.
For instance, if a bean crop received a sample grade but a farmer was able to market it at a higher quality level, the settlement will be based on that superior grade.
“Crop insurance is penalizing the grower for aggressive marketing,” said Penner.
The association has proposed that samples of beans in a claim position be graded by a team of three commercial graders and insurance settlements be based on the average results of those grades.
Producers who are able to improve upon that grade by cleaning the crop or through clever marketing would pocket any premium they receive.
Crop insurance officials did not implement that proposal for 2004, but Penner said the issue will resurface when they meet again later this year.
Aside from that topic she is pleased with the progress made and is confident future issues will be addressed in a similar manner.
“Crop insurance has worked very well with us in the past. We’ve had a good working relationship with them,” she said.
