It was almost time for harvest equipment to get rolling, but a significant number of Prairie producers got a visit from the white combine instead.
According to an Aug. 30 release from the Canadian Crop Hail Association, storms between Aug. 12-18 racked up 1,340 claims across all three Prairie provinces. Hail during the spate of storms ranged from pea- to golf ball-sized.
Saskatchewan bore the brunt of the severe hail instances, according to the association, with the worst crop damage reported across the north-central region of that province from Laird to Hudson Bay and south to Regina.
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Large patches of Alberta were also impacted, including the Milk River region, Taber, Bow Island, Claresholm, Champion, Cayley, Bowden, Craigmyle, Alliance, Provost, Calmar, Hay Lakes, Mundare, Elk Point, Fairview and Nampa.
Damage in Manitoba skirted the province’s western border. The impacted area included a strip from Reston in the southwest to Russell in the northwest.
The high amount of claims and severity of the weather at this time of year is atypical, insurers noted. Rodney Schoettler of Saskatchewan Municipal Hail Insurance noted that, “August is typically a lower hail event month.”
The significant increase in claims has Schoettler asking for farmers to be patient as they and other insurance services work to finish adjusting those claims.
The mid-August claims follow yet more hail reports the weeks before, largely in Alberta. The Canadian Crop Hail Association reported 1,642 claims between July 29 and Aug. 11, 75 per cent of which occurred in Alberta.
At that time, representatives from the Agricultural Financial Services Corporation warned producers to leave enough on the field for adjusters, if they planned on harvesting, cutting or otherwise salvaging a field with an ongoing claim.
Data from Rain and Hail Insurance Service, Palliser Insurance, Agriculture Financial Services Corporation, Saskatchewan Municipal Hail Insurance, Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation, and Co-operative Hail Insurance Company all fed into the Aug. 30 release.
