(Alice McFarlane/farmnewsNOW Staff)

By Alice McFarlane

Unharvested Crop

Wildlife damage claims to reach $350 million

Feb 26, 2020 | 10:17 AM

Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation (SCIC) anticipates a big payout this year for wildlife damage.

Producers faced a difficult growing season that started with dry conditions and delayed crop growth. It turned into wet conditions, coupled with early snowfall and a delayed harvest.

President and CEO Shawn Jaques said the end result was a lot of crop left out over winter. SCIC is allotting an additional $8.2 million to help cover wildlife claims this spring.

“There’s about 1.3 million acres reported to SCIC that remain unharvested and it kind of spreads throughout the province, but central Saskatchewan probably has the largest number of acres unharvested,” he said. “With approximately 1.3 million insured acres left out over winter, compensation for producers is estimated to reach $350 million in claims.”

Jaques said crops left out over winter are covered under SCIC’s Wildlife Damage Compensation Program. He said the program is available to all Saskatchewan producers and farmers don’t have to be enrolled in order to quality for coverage.

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“It’s open to all producers whether or not you are a crop insurance customer,” he said. “I think what’s important for producers to keep in mind as spring progresses is if you notice damage from waterfall or wildlife prior to harvesting those acres, farmers must call any one of our local offices before harvest and we will have an adjuster sent out assess the loss.

Jaques said SCIC will have the necessary people available to make sure adjusters can respond quickly.

“We do move adjusters around because there are parts of Saskatchewan where maybe there’s very little crop left out so we will ensure that we have enough staff available to get those claims done in a timely manner,” he said. “We know there’s going to be a higher number wildlife claims due to the large number of acres that remain.”

SCIC has 21 customer service offices across the province.

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alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @AliceMcF