Agricorp, the province’s farm program delivery agency, reiterated in a statement Tuesday that the RMP “will be available in 2021 (and) program details will be shared with customers as soon as they are available.”

Renewal packages are going out to farm customers “a bit later than usual this year” but that won’t affect customers’ coverage, Agricorp said.

RMP customers “do not need to do anything at this time, including reporting their sales for the RMP for livestock program.”

Launched as a pilot in 2007 and made permanent in 2011, Ontario’s RMP is meant to help farmers offset risks such as fluctuating costs and market prices.

Variations of the RMP are available for farmers in the grains and oilseeds, edible horticulture, cattle, hog, sheep and veal sectors. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Southern Ontario MPs Neil Ellis and Tim Louis on Monday announced up to $559,285 in federal funding through the AgriRisk Initiatives: Administrative Capacity Building stream for Turkey Farmers of Ontario to “finalize and launch” its new insurance product.

The plan, once it’s completely in place, is expected to help “bridge the gap in existing coverage” for any turkey farm affected in an avian flu outbreak.

The plan would cover economic losses resulting from the difference between compensation through the Canadian Food Inspection Agency for animals ordered destroyed and their “full market value,” the government said.

The program could help cover affected farms’ “incremental costs,” such as cleaning and disinfection, veterinary services, the disposal of feed, and other costs related to the resumption of operations.

The new insurance product would be mandatory for all of the 176 turkey farmers in Ontario, the government said.

Once launched, the plan would be administered by the Poultry Insurance Exchange Reciprocal of Canada (PIE), which already offers separate avian flu-related insurance products for chicken, egg and broiler hatching egg producers in that province.

“The turkey industry has encountered numerous challenges over the past few years and this funding is very important for the implementation of an avian influenza insurance program,” TFO chair Brian Ricker, who farms at Dunnville, about 50 km south of Hamilton, said in the government’s release Monday.

“This will protect not only turkey producers but by extension the poultry industry in Ontario.”

“This new insurance product will help Ontario turkey farmers in their efforts to protect their businesses and return to production following a sudden outbreak of avian influenza,” federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said in the same release.

The AgriRisk funding stream supporting the new TFO plan is meant to support implementing and testing “new financial tools which allow producers to manage a defined business risk.”

Ontario’s, and Canada’s, most recent outbreak of highly pathogenic avian flu involved an H5N2 strain on three turkey operations near Woodstock in April 2015.

By the time the province was again declared avian flu-free in October that year, the affected farms’ barns were depopulated and movement control measures and surveillance had been imposed on over 70 other farms.

The most recent outbreak of high-path avian flu in domestic poultry in North America was a strain of H7N3 affecting a turkey farm in South Carolina’s Chesterfield County last April. Over 1,500 birds on the farm died of the disease and the remaining flock of over 32,000 was depopulated.

Ontario’s Feather Board Command Centre said at the time the most likely source of the strain in that case was migratory waterfowl on the Atlantic Flyway, which runs north up into southern Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada but “has not been previously involved in outbreaks among commercial flocks.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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The province and federal government on Dec. 22 announced the expansion of coverage will be extended to cover the 2021 program year — and that it will insure production of “additional commodities.”

Further details are expected to be available later in the new year, according to Agricorp, the provincial farm program delivery agency.

The insurance expansion, which was announced in July for the 2020 program year, was hailed at that time as the first such coverage of its kind anywhere in Canada. AgriInsurance contracts “normally exclude losses caused by unavailability of labour.”

For 2021, Ontario’s federal/provincial production insurance program will include “on-farm labour disruption losses due to COVID-19” as an insured peril for:

• production loss coverage for all commodities that have a guaranteed production;
• abandonment threshold coverage for fresh market vegetables, on an “acreage loss basis”;
• establishment coverage for ginseng;
• mortality loss coverage for fruit trees and grapevines, and
• bee health.

The peril, Agricorp said, will include an eligible farmer’s “inability to attract sufficient on-farm labour due to COVID-19” as well as “illness or quarantine of you and/or on-farm labour due to COVID-19.”

But it won’t include labour-disruption losses post-harvest, such as in a packing house or processing facility — including on-farm facilities — or relating to transportation of crops. Nor will it include COVID-19-induced loss of markets, such as a lack of customers at a U-pick farm site.

Eligible farmers also “must make a good-faith effort to secure sufficient labour for the 2021 program year,” Agricorp said, adding it may ask farmers to provide information about steps taken to secure labour in the 2021 program year, relative to steps they took in previous years.

Farmers who get production insurance for the 2021 crop year will be eligible for the lost-labour coverage regardless of the peril coverage level they chose. Thus, if a farmer selected the hail-only, frost-only or hail-and-frost-only coverage option, he or she will be covered also for on-farm labour disruption losses due to COVID-19.

That said, Agricorp cautioned farmers that the added peril “will not increase the existing limits of your coverage, but will be assessed within them.”

Agricorp also reiterated that eligible farmers “must follow relevant public health requirements and practices” including those of both the province and the local public health unit.

For coverage, the agency said, it may ask a farmer “to describe the steps you took to follow these requirements and practices prior to paying an indemnity.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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The Prairies’ Crown ag insurance corporations announced Thursday that the deadline to buy WLPIP calf price insurance for 2020 has been extended to June 18.

The new deadline, reset from May 28, gives eligible cattle producers “an additional three weeks to monitor premiums and purchase calf price insurance policies,” Manitoba Agricultural Services Corp. (MASC) said in a notice.

However, Alberta’s Agriculture Financial Services Corp. (AFSC), in a separate release Thursday, noted the extension gives producers just nine extra purchasing days, as available coverage options are published only on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

The extension only applies to this spring’s purchasing period, AFSC noted. All calf price insurance fall settlement dates remain the same.

Typically, the calf program insures calves born in the spring and sold in the fall; cow-calf producers buy price insurance from February to the end of May, for their intended marketings from September to December.

Available policy lengths range from 16 to 36 weeks, and for each policy length, a range of coverage levels is offered, typically from 75 to 95 per cent of the expected forward price, each corresponding with a premium.

Coverage levels and premiums change daily based on market factors including CME feeder cattle futures, currency exchange rates, barley prices, basis and feeder-to-calf price spread.

The deadline extension was granted “in response to the ever-changing circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic,” AFSC said Thursday.

The “initial reaction” to COVID-19 negatively impacted beef sales through its direct link to the food services industry, AFSC said, and the pandemic has since led to “increased volatility in cattle prices, due to fear of the unknown.”

The extended deadline “will allow cattle producers more time to evaluate and make decisions based on their risk tolerance and their operation,” interim AFSC CEO Jerry Bouma said in Thursday’s release.

“The market is moving in the right direction and should offer the affordability that producers depend on, and give them the opportunity to participate in the calf insurance program.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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The P.E.I. government on Thursday announced a support package for farmers including $8.8 million over two years in additional business risk management (BRM) program funds.

That includes paying the provincial portion of the costs to raise the coverage level for farmers enrolled in AgriStability program to 85 per cent from the current 70 — and removing the program’s reference margin limit, which “will have a positive impact on the livestock industry,” the province said in a release.

The province said it will also offer farmers interim AgriStability payments of up to 75 per cent of their estimated final payments — up from the usual interim payment limit of 50 per cent — to “get funding into producers’ hands in a timely manner.”

Combined, those two moves are expected to provide farmers with an estimated $5.6 million in support over the next two years, the province said.

P.E.I. also pledged a 10 per cent discount on the farmer share of AgriInsurance premiums, which alone is expected to save participating farmers about $3.2 million over two years.

Apart from the BRM funds, the province said it will also work with potato growers and processors to put $4.7 million toward “shipping and storage costs of potatoes for processing,” so as to help mitigate a surplus resulting from “market conditions related to COVID-19.”

Specifically, potato producers this year face an indefinite dive in french fry sales as restaurants have halted dine-in service due to the COVID-19 pandemic, though industry groups have noticed an uptick in potato chip sales since social isolation became widespread.

“The current global situation is creating uncertainty for our farm community and immediate support is necessary for the sustainability of our agriculture industry and the long-term strength of our food supply system,” provincial Ag Minister Bloyce Thompson said in the province’s release Thursday.

“By supporting the industry, and our farm families and workers, our province can retain economic strength and prepare for a return to full economic activity.”

Improving AgriStability’s coverage and removing its reference margin limit have been an ask among several Canadian farm groups since well before the current pandemic.

While minor tweaks have been made at the national level, other provinces have also recently moved unilaterally, albeit temporarily, to boost AgriStability.

British Columbia in February raised the program’s coverage level to 80 per cent when margins fall below the 30 per cent payment threshold, and also eliminated the reference margin, for the 2019 and 2020 program years.

Saskatchewan on Friday made a move similar to one of P.E.I.’s, offering producers the opportunity to seek interim AgriStability payments of up to 75 per cent of estimated final payments for the 2020 program year. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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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.

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

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Agricorp, the province’s farm program delivery agency, on Thursday released full 2019 program details for the RMPs for grains/oilseeds, cattle, hogs, veal and sheep, including premium rates and updated program timelines.

As the province announced last month, the RMP this year will include a 95 per cent coverage level, billed as a “cost-effective alternative to the existing 100 per cent coverage level.”

But because of the new option, “coverage is not automatically renewed this year,” Agricorp warned Thursday — meaning, unlike in previous RMP years, a farmer who leaves his or her coverage decisions unchanged won’t see those changes rolled over to the current program year.

“Customers will need to evaluate their options and contact Agricorp to select a coverage level that is best for their farms.”

Grains/Oilseeds RMP customers will be able to select their coverage level when they report their planted acres for production insurance, “all in one phone call,” Agricorp added.

Renewal packages are to be mailed out this month, Agricorp said Thursday.

“Participation timelines have been adjusted to provide additional time for customers to make the best decisions for their farm businesses.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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The provincial and federal government on Feb. 26 rolled out Saskatchewan’s 2019 crop insurance program, in which coverage levels on average are to reach a record $230 per acre, up from $216 last year.

The 2019 program introduces the Corn Rainfall Program (CRP), a weather-based program for silage, grazing and grain corn producers to insure acres against moisture shortages over the growing season.

Under the CRP, a claim would be triggered when precipitation at the grower’s selected weather station is below 80 per cent of normal. Payouts are graduated, rising as the precipitation level decreases.

For example, just 3.5 per cent of indemnity would be paid out on a CRP-insured corn field receiving between 78 and 80 per cent of normal moisture; 100 per cent of indemnity would be paid out when precipitation comes in at less than 32 per cent of normal.

For each land location insured, a producer must first pick a weather station best representing the conditions for the land, and also choose a “weighting option,” which weights the monthly precipitation from May through August to best suit the local growing season, corn variety and the crop’s intended use.

The weighting options Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corp. (SCIC) will offer include a 20-40-40 per cent option for May, June and July, respectively; 15-35-35-15 per cent for May, June, July and August; and 20-40-40 per cent for June, July and August.

The grower must also pick a precipitation cap of either 125 or 150 per cent of normal for each land location. The capping option helps in months when a significant rainfall event happens, but doesn’t rule out coverage when the rest of the growing season comes in below normal.

Both the CRP and the province’s Corn Heat Unit (CHU) program will provide an establishment benefit of $90 per acre on crops that fail to adequately establish or suffer damage before June 20.

CRP coverage is available at $100, $150, $200 or $300 per acre, SCIC said. Not all of a grower’s corn acres need to be insured under the program, but all acres on the program contract must be insured at the same level of coverage.

Acres can be covered through both the CRP and the CHU, though those same acres can’t also be insured under the corn multi-peril yield-loss program, SCIC said. A grower opting for CRP and CHU coverage together will get a coverage level of $150 per acre independently for each of the two programs. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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With a provincial election around the corner, improving digital and cellular service was a focal point in an ag leaders’ debate held in Saskatoon Tuesday.

The Why Ag Matters debate was hosted by the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) and the Western Producer.

Discussions covered everything from carbon credits to railways, with most questions drawn from a policy document created by APAS. Moderator Jeanne Martinson also voiced questions from Twitter and the debate audience.

Much of the infrastructure debate centred on cellular coverage and rural Internet service — problems with which are “endemic all over rural Saskatchewan,” said Rick Swenson, leader of the Progressive Conservatives.

Everywhere people ask why they can’t get better service to run their businesses, he said.

The PCs will push the government “to not strip dividends out of SaskTel in order to balance a budget that isn’t balanced, and put some money into providing this,” said Swenson.

Ryan Lamarche, ag critic for the Green Party, also saw SaskTel as key to rolling out better rural Internet and cell service. The provincial government could do “a rapid expansion of (broadband) connections to the rural areas,” he said.

Better service is needed for both Internet and cellphones, he added.

Darrin Lamoureux, leader of the provincial Liberals, also saw Crown corporations such as SaskTel as providing an advantage.

The Liberals, he said, “would challenge the Saskatchewan Party government not to worry about the $132 million they’re asking for to clean up oil wells, and instead focus on putting in Internet services” for today’s agricultural industry.

The provincial NDP has a firm commitment to “improve cell coverage in northern Saskatchewan and expand SaskTel broadband Internet services throughout the province,” said Cathy Sproule, the party’s ag critic, “as we know that’s a critical part of every agricultural operation here in Saskatchewan today.”

Lyle Stewart, the governing Saskatchewan Party’s minister of agriculture, acknowledged rural Internet and cellphone coverage could be better.

“As far as high-speed Internet and cellphone service across the province (are concerned), there are still places where it’s inadequate,” he said.

“And we’ve lobbied SaskTel to do better, and they have done better, but that’s certainly one place where there is still room for improvement.”

— Lisa Guenther is a field editor for Grainews and Country Guide at Livelong, Sask. Follow her at @LtoG on Twitter.

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