Claim payments for multi-peril crop insurance in Alberta estimated at $700-900 million this year

As Alberta agriculture producers continue to deal with dry conditions, the Alberta Financial Services Corporation (AFSC) estimates that this year’s claim payments for multi-peril crop insurance will range from approximately $700 million to $900 million.

To date, AFSC has already paid out about $70 million on more than 3,000 insurance policies, “as claims are being processed and dollars are flowing to address priority areas,” Alberta Agriculture and Forestry said in a press release on Thursday. Producers also have access to approximately $541 million currently deposited in AgriInvest accounts.

Provincially, 78% of crops and 29% of pasture acreage has been insured in 2015, the government ministry said. Producers insured 14.7 million crop acres, with $3.68 billion in coverage.

Preliminary estimates are that crop yields for 2015 will be 25 to 30% below the five-year average, with about 32% of canola acres and 28% of hard spring wheat acres rated as “poor quality.”

The government noted in the release that rental fees have been cut in half for Alberta Agriculture and Forestry’s Water Pumping Program, which provides pumps and pipes to help producers get water for domestic and livestock use by filling their dugouts or other suitable catch basins from nearby water sources. “It’s clear that many producers are facing challenges because of the dry conditions this year, and that’s why we are finding common sense ways to help out farmers during these difficult times,” said Oneil Carter, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry.

The emergency water-pumping program provides assistance to between 400 and 1,400 clients every year, and the fee reduction will apply to anyone who uses the program in the 2015-16 fiscal year, retroactive to April 1.

Related: City council in Sturgeon County, Alberta declares state of agricultural disaster due to drought

Alberta Environment and Parks is also working with municipalities to identify additional public lands for grazing purposes to help increase producers’ access to livestock feed supplies. The measures will allow temporary grazing or haying permits in suitable locations.

In addition, the province continues to work with the federal government to ensure that tax deferrals are available for livestock producers in affected municipalities. Those who need to sell livestock because of feed shortages can defer a portion of their 2015 sale proceeds of breeding livestock for one year to help offset the cost of replenishing that stock in the following year, the release noted.

Last month, Alberta’s Parkland County declared a “state of agricultural disaster” due to the hardship that weather conditions and drought have placed on local farmers, with county Mayor Rod Shaigec saying at the time that “moisture levels in some areas of Alberta are at the lowest levels recorded in the last 50 years.”

City council in Sturgeon County, Alta. likewise declared a state of agricultural disaster on July 20, while Mackenzie County reported dealing with drought conditions.