WESTERN PRODUCER — Saskatchewan producers should receive about $2 billion in business risk management support payments this year, the provincial and federal governments said last week.
Forecasts based on the 30 per cent of Saskatchewan Crop Insurance claims paid out so far show those payments alone could reach $1.85 billion. According to the corporation, the reserve fund would still contain $520 million at that level of payout.
The province already , and forecasts $115 million in matching contributions to AgriInvest. The recent Canada-Saskatchewan Feed Program includes $77 million in federal money and $70 million from the province for cattle producers who faced extraordinary feed costs.
AgriStability payments in crop year 2023 are expected to be about $59 million. SCIC said in the last three years, annual payments have ranged from $72 million to $112 million.
Chief executive officer Jeff Morrow said the numbers highlight the challenging year producers had.
SCIC paid out $1.44 billion in 2022. Payments are higher likely because prices and coverage were higher, he said.
“Maybe in the drought area some deeper losses than in 2022,” he explained. “Some deep losses for sure, some really low yields in the southwest and west -central that producers are having to deal with and the program responding as such.”
During a drought-proofing panel at the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities midterm convention, producers heard that governments continue to look at program improvements.
Provincial deputy agriculture minister Rick Burton said 75 to 80 percent of seeded acres are covered by crop insurance every year but that drops to 20 percent coverage through the forage and rainfall programs.
“We need to find better ways to have producers participating in our forage insurance programs in order to help protect the livestock sector,” he said.
“We’re looking at satellite imagery and how that can maybe improve the information and data collection that’s needed to provide better coverage and we’re looking always at adding more rainfall stations.”
Burton also said there is work to do on AgriStability to improve it for livestock producers.
“Some of the things are some of the internal costs that livestock producers have that aren’t covered under the program,” he said. “Things like non-marketable commodities. When you have a drought, hay prices go up. If you’ve got some hay on your farm of course your ending inventory goes up and it reduces your payment. Some of those things just intuitively don’t make sense.”
Meanwhile, Morrow couldn’t say yet how many crop growers had taken advantage of the change to the low-yield threshold to convert cereals and pulses to feed.
When this measure was implemented in 2021, it resulted in about 350,000 acres diverted for livestock.
“I know there was a lot of interest for sure this year. We announced it a little earlier than in 2021 because of some feedback we got that we needed it quicker,” he said.
But he added that some producers have contract commitments or other circumstances that led them to combine a low-yield crop anyway.
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