Unharvested crops prompt calls for government to help distressed farmers

With approximately one million unharvested acres sitting wet and soggy in Alberta fields, farm groups are calling on the provincial government to expedite crop insurance payments and prevent further delays to spring seeding.

“It’s a bit of a desperate situation. Desperate and unprecedented,” said Jason Lenz, chair of Alberta Barley. “Our concern is this could very quickly turn into a significant two-year loss for producers.”

Alberta farmers are usually hitting the fields to start seeding about now, but this year many haven’t yet had the chance to deal with last year’s crop. Early frost and fall snowstorms (with the worst damage suffered in central and northern Alberta) disrupted the 2016 harvest for many producers — forcing them to leave their crops on the ground through the winter months.

The problem now is that recent spring snowfall is further delaying efforts to get into the fields. Producers are faced with the challenging task of waiting for the land to dry out, harvesting last year’s crop, and repairing and prepping fields, all while racing the clock to get the 2017 crop planted in time. And many farmers can’t even get started until a crop insurance adjuster visits their fields to process their claim for last year’s unharvested acres.

“Right now everybody needs them all at the same time and there’s just not enough adjusters to go around,” said Alberta Wheat Commission vice-chair Kevin Bender, whose own farm in the Sylvan Lake area was hit by a Sept. 30 snowstorm that left a third of his crop unharvested. “If we end up getting too late seeding this crop, then we run into the risk of frost in the fall.”

Farm groups are calling on the government and Alberta Financial Services Corporation (the crown corporation that provides crop insurance) to expedite insurance payouts by moving away from field to field assessments in favour of large-scale geographic write-offs that could get farmers into their fields sooner. They are also requesting that farmers be allowed to dispose of last year’s crop as they see fit, without it affecting their insurance coverage.

Daniel Graham, manager of financial analysis with AFSC, said it is all hands on deck right now for the Crown corporation’s 120 crop inspectors. He said AFSC has 350 individual claims for unharvested acres currently pending in its system but expects that number to rise significantly in the coming weeks — perhaps as high as 2,100.

He added it’s too early to say what the final tally could be in terms of payouts, but said AFSC has already distributed $33 million in benefits on unharvested acre claims.

Graham said AFSC is moving to streamline some of its inspection processes and has already relaxed some of its requirements in an effort to process claims quickly.

“We do recognize there are pressures to respond in a timely manner,” Graham said. “We have approximately 960,000 insured crop acres remaining unharvested in the province. To give perspective, the prior three years’ average was around 23,000 . . . so it is significant.”

Farmers can help speed the inspection process by knowing the location and amount of damage to their crops, and notifying their local AFSC office as soon as possible about what they plan to do with their unharvested crop acres, Graham said.

In a statement Wednesday, provincial Agriculture Minister Oneil Carlier said he has asked the AFSC to provide him with a full assessment of the situation as well as a comprehensive plan to expedite crop insurance assessments.

“I’ve also asked that the agency be prepared to move quickly if conditions don’t improve,” Carlier said.

It’s a bit of a desperate situation. ...Our concern is this could very quickly turn into a significant two-year loss for producers.