Livestock producers facing a shortage of feed this year due to drought conditions mainly in the western half of the province can seed “greenfeed’ crops for another two weeks under the crop insurance program, the federal and provincial governments announced Thursday.
Through Saskatchewan Crop Insurance, the deadline for seeding crops for greenfeed has been extended to July 15, so that producers who have crop insurance will now be able to seed and insure any cereal greenfeed crop.
Shawn Jacques, president and CEO of SCIC, said the two-week extension to the deadline will five farmers more time to seed any greenfeed crop and still have crop insurance coverage. “Most farmers would plant cereals, like oats or barley, and (this extension) gives them an opportunity to plant them, and hopefully be able to harvest a bit of a crop.’’
If crop insurance customers want to use their annual crop acres for livestock grazing or for feed they can contact their local crop insurance office.
Crop insurance customers also have coverage should their annual crops suffer from the dry conditions. The producer can register a pre-harvest claim if they do not want to carry the crop through to harvest. If the producer takes their crop to harvest, but it has a reduced yield, they can file a post-harvest claim.
“Saskatchewan crop insurance, for those producers who are enrolled, also has forage rainfall insurance program, which is intended to provide some protection for pastures,” Jacques added.
Producers concerned about the dry conditions should contact their local crop insurance office to review the options available for claims, compensation and the requirements for the options they choose.
The cost-shared AgriStability Program also provides an option for producers looking to access a portion of their benefit early. Through the interim benefit, producers enrolled in AgriStability can get 50 per cent of their estimated final benefit.
Source : LeaderPost