Ontario’s corn crop yielded better than expected, at 184 bushels per acre average, while soybeans were closer to their 10-year average at 44 bushels per acre, according to Agricorp. Why it matters: The provincial crop insurance agency has some of the most solid crop production numbers in Ontario, as its members have to report their […] Read more
Hot fall pulls Ontario corn yields above average
Crop Insurance: Hail claims dipped sharply but unharvested acres soared
The number of unseeded acres rose eightfold but the provincial crop insurer paid out less than half the usual amount of hail claims
Reading Time: 2 minutes Dry conditions had one benefit this year — they helped contribute to a big drop in hail damage. “It was very dry in the south, with less activity in relation to hail. The central-south areas were more active this year,” said Daniel Graham, manager of business risk products with the Agricultural Financial Services Corporation (AFSC). […] Read more
New ag policy aims to sweeten the AgriStability pot
More farmers have been opting out of the farm-income support program after changes in 2013 reduced the potential payout
Reading Time: 4 minutes CAP is a rather fitting acronym for the recently announced Canadian Agricultural Partnership, the latest government ‘policy framework’ that governs its farm support programs. “That’s a very easy way for people to remember the two major changes that have come about here,” said Steve Funk, director of farm income programs at MNP. “They’ve capped the […] Read more
Unseeded acres create ripple effect in the number of insured acres this summer
Insured barley and pea acres are down, but canola, lentil, and hemp acres went up
Reading Time: 3 minutes Two years of rough weather conditions haven’t been enough to drive producers to increase their crop insurance coverage. “I don’t think there’s a huge change in the overall level of insurance participation. The reasons people participate aren’t always dependent on the weather,” said Jesse Cole, research analyst at Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC). “There could […] Read more
U.S. farm groups oppose Trump’s cuts to ag spending
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. farm groups on Tuesday pushed back against President Donald Trump’s proposal to slash agriculture spending, viewing it as a fresh threat to a struggling farm economy. The White House on Monday proposed $46.54 billion in cuts to federal government funding for the agriculture sector over the next 10 years, including […] Read more
CropChoice$ for 2017 now online
Reading Time: < 1 minute This years’s edition of the CropChoice$ planning tool is now available. The tool uses the latest crop insurance data from AFSC and projected crop costs to evaluate a crop plan in its entirety, said provincial crops economist Rawlin Thangara. “Let’s say a producer has a crop plan for 10 fields that he wishes to evaluate. […] Read more
Crop insurer says it is ‘streamlining’ inspection process
AFSC is also asking producers to gather information to speed up the assessment of unharvested acres
Reading Time: < 1 minute Here’s what AFSC says it has done to “streamline inspection processes in order to expedite assessments”: The number of required field counts has been reduced when appraising wildlife damage and potential production on the unharvested acres, relying on the inspector’s judgment to do more counts when required. Allow visual appraisals on crops where, in the […] Read more
Alberta pledges ‘streamlined’ crop insurance inspections
Alberta’s provincial crop insurance agency will “streamline” its inspection procedures to better deal with unharvested acres from last fall, the government said Wednesday. The announcement from provincial Agriculture Minister Oneil Carlier follows a conference call with officials from Agriculture Financial Services Corp. (AFSC) and from the province’s wheat, barley, canola and pulse grower commissions. “Balancing […] Read more
Alberta farm groups want provincial action on unharvested crops
A coalition of Alberta farm groups calling itself “Team Alberta” is meeting with the province’s agriculture minister and representatives from the Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC) on Wednesday seeking immediate action regarding approximately one million unharvested acres still sitting in farmers’ fields. They are recommending that farmers in the hardest hit areas of Alberta be […] Read more
Plant 2017: It’s all about making the best of a bad situation
It was never going to be good, but crop specialists say this seeding season may not be as bad as feared
Reading Time: 3 minutes To say that last year’s harvest season in Alberta was unusual would be putting it mildly. The exceptionally wet fall resulted in 967,569 unharvested acres reported to Agricultural Financial Services Corporation (AFSC) this past winter, representing millions of dollars in seed and inputs that have yet to be recouped. So the big question this spring […] Read more
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