Saskatchewan farmers who still want to put in cereal crops for greenfeed with crop insurance coverage will get an extra couple of weeks to do so.
Saskatchewan Crop Insurance on Wednesday announced an extension on the June 30 deadline for seeding crops for greenfeed, to July 15.
Producers who have crop insurance will now be able to seed and insure any cereal greenfeed crop — including producers who hadn’t previously endorsed greenfeed on their contracts, the agency said. Crop insurance customers have until July 15 to select that endorsement and seed their greenfeed crop.
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Dryness poised to threaten Saskatchewan crops
Crops in Saskatchewan are developing in opposite directions, the province’s latest crop report said. Growing conditions in the province vary, with some areas receiving enough rain while other locations are experiencing crop stress due to hot, dry conditions.
According to the provincial ag ministry’s crop report for the week ending June 10, seeding is “mostly complete” in Saskatchewan but a few fields are still being seeded for greenfeed and silage.
“Many areas of the province that are in need of rain did not receive any this past week,” the ag ministry said, except for “localized” rain in northwestern and southeastern cropping areas.
A crop insurance customer who wants to use annual crop acres for livestock grazing or for feed can contact their local Saskatchewan Crop Insurance office, the agency said Wednesday, noting crop insurance customers also have coverage in the event that their annual crops suffer from the dry conditions.
A producer can register a pre-harvest claim if he or she doesn’t want to carry the crop through to harvest. If the producer takes their crop to harvest, but it has a reduced yield, he or she can file a post-harvest claim.
The provincial government on Wednesday also noted the Western Livestock Price Insurance Program (WLPIP) grants producers the opportunity to purchase insurance based on a forward market price for their cattle — and for those who purchased price insurance this spring, the 60-day continuous criteria will be waived for the 2019 grazing season.
Enrolling in AgriStability for the 2019 program year is also still an option for those who haven’t yet done so, the province said, as that enrolment deadline has been pushed back to July 2.
Among other options available to livestock producers, the province noted Crown land lessees with “excess” grazing or hay resources can contact their regional ag ministry offices to request permission to sublease their pasture, graze “non-owned” cattle on the lease, harvest some or all of the hay on the lease and/or sell hay from the lease.
Provincial environment ministry lands may also be available for grazing until Sept. 1 through the Fish and Wildlife Development Fund, the province said. More information on FWDF land is available online. — Glacier FarmMedia Network
