Recent changes to Saskatchewan crop insurance programming should help to increase the number of winter wheat acres planted in the province each year, says a board member with the Saskatchewan Winter Cereals Development Commission.
Last week, Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corp., announced that the seeding deadline for insured winter wheat acres will be extended by two weeks to Sept. 30, beginning in 2019.
Brad White, a producer and SWCDC board member from Gull Lake, Sask., said winter wheat growers have been lobbying for the change for the last couple of years and are happy SCIC extended the deadline.
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Under the previous Sept. 15 deadline, “it was always really tight for guys who were trying to get a good chunk of harvest done before turning their attention to seeding winter wheat,” White said.
“I think this new date should definitely give us a better chance of getting a few new growers to try winter wheat,” he added.
“I’m hoping we see at least a 20 percent increase (in seeded acres).”
Winter wheat acres across the Prairies have been declining over the past few years.
Statistics Canada estimated total prairie plantings at 250,000 acres in the fall of 2018, down from 335,000 acres in 2017 and 535,000 acres in 2016.
A decade ago, total prairie plantings surpassed 1.5 million acres.
White said a number of factors have contributed to the lower plantings, including a tight window for fall seeding.
Until now, winter wheat crops planted in Saskatchewan after Sept. 15 were not eligible for crop insurance coverage.
The new seeding deadline will give growers two additional weeks to get seed in the ground without losing crop insurance eligibility.
“The other thing to consider is that seeding into really dry conditions is never ideal so if that seeding deadline is pushed back by two weeks … it gives growers an opportunity to wait a bit longer for a bit of rain and some better seeding conditions,” White said.
SWCDC also received funding last fall through Saskatchewan Agriculture’s ADOPT program to conduct a two-year seeding date trial for winter wheat.
The objective of the program is to demonstrate that winter wheat can be planted into late September and early October without significantly impacting yield or crop viability.
Trials sites will be located at Swift Current and Redvers, Sask., White said.
