OUTLOOK, Sask. – Crop insurance based on production rather than acres would work best for vegetable growers, said the president of the Saskatchewan Vegetable Growers Association.
Wayne Gienow, a market gardener from Lumsden, said his group hopes to study its insurance needs this summer and present the findings to Canada-Saskatchewan Crop Insurance, which is exploring insurance programs for vegetables.
Interviewed at the association’s annual conference in Outlook Feb. 28, Gienow said he preferred production-based insurance because it would allow farmers to salvage produce to fulfil some of their market needs.
Read Also
Extreme rain increases as planet warms
In this issue, we are going to wrap up our look at extreme rainfall by examining the different weather patterns that tend to be associated with these rainfall events.
Acreage loss coverage would not offer a production guarantee or price insurance but be based on crop value, with claims paid on damaged acres.
Little insurance is now available, other than for potatoes.
Gienow said insurance must be affordable and provide adequate coverage levels for the high-risk vegetable business.
His input costs run about $1,200 an acre for irrigation, cultivation and fertilizer.
Gienow said an insurance package must also consider returns to producers who retail their own products. Their returns are three to four times higher than those selling their product wholesale, he added.
The new federal agricultural policy framework could also affect crop insurance. Its goal is to have all crops insured in future years.
Colleen Rooney, a research analyst at Canada-Saskatchewan Crop Insurance in Melville, said growers and industry will help develop insurance programs that suit the vegetables grown.
“If interest is not there, we will not proceed,” she said. “It has to be driven by producers.
“So when we do offer a program, there are no surprises and you will have an idea of what the program looks like.”
Under Rooney’s proposed model, crops eligible for coverage would be commercially grown and economically viable, suitable for the area in which they are grown and managed to a common growing standard by an experienced grower.
