Wet conditions lead to increased crop insurance claims for unseeded acres in Manitoba, Saskatchewan

Wet conditions this spring in Manitoba and Saskatchewan have resulted in many more farmers making crop insurance claims for their unseeded crops.
Citing government sources, Commodity News Service Canada reports a total of 2.9 million acres went unseeded in Manitoba, leading to a record number of claims this year. Last year, only 600,000 of acres were unseeded in the province, Commodity News reports.
A spokesperson for Manitoba Agricultural Service Corporation told Commodity News that Manitoba producers might average about $50 per unseeded acre in insurance money, which would translate to an insurance payout roughly on the order of $120 million.
In Saskatchewan, more than 13,000 crop insurance claims have been filed for unseeded acres this year, according to Saskatchewan government data reported by radio station CJME. That’s 1,000 more claims than last year.
The radio station quoted an official from the Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation saying only 5,104 of those claims have been paid out thus far, totaling more than $155 million.