Kevin Laliberte
Editor, Smoky River Express

No coverage on any crop will drop more than five per cent or increase more than 15 per cent during the first year of transition to the new program, says Dyck. Higher Yields = Higher Coverage Ultimately the new system gives producers more control over their own risk, says Risk Management Specialist Ted Darling, with Alberta Agriculture and Food. “I think farmers will see this as a good move. By personalizing their coverage and making it more responsive to what each farm produces, it encourages producers to adopt the most advanced farming techniques to increase their yields.” They’ll be motivated by the fact that higher yields now lead directly to higher coverage, says Darling. “It can cut both ways, but we all want to be better than average and we want to be treated better than average.” That appeals to Vreeling who feels the current system doesn’t recognize farmers who invest more in their operations to boost yields. “Some of us spend considerable dollars on seeding equipment to conserve moisture and increase yields, but that isn’t reflected in our insurance coverage. Once we move to Individual Coverage, things should be fairer.” Two important features of the old Indexing system will remain under Individual Coverage: cushioning and trending. “Farmers asked us to cushion their yields during natural disasters like drought and hail to reduce the impact on coverage levels,” says Dyck. “If you have a wreck and get a zero yield, we’ll replace that zero with 70 per cent of your normal yield to keep your coverage levels stable.” Trending means AFSC will boost the older yields in a farmer’s average yield records to account for advances in technology and new seed varieties. Risk area boundary lines Producers who farm on two sides of a Risk Area boundary line are looking forward to Individual Coverage, says Dyck. “Under Indexing, some had fields in two different Risk Areas and ended up with two different coverage levels for the same crop. The difference could be 30 bu/acre of coverage on one field, and 40 bu/acre on another field. It all depended on the yields of other farmers in each Risk Area. With Individual Coverage, those boundary lines are no longer an issue.” Farmers who grow a new crop or buy crop insurance for the first time won’t get Individual Coverage right away, adds Dyck. “We don’t have yield records for them yet, so we’ll start by basing coverage on the normal yields in their township. Each year, we’ll blend their new yield records into the formula until we have five years of their records on file. Then we’ll set coverage using only their production numbers.” Producer meetings in New Year AFSC is putting the final touches on the new program and will post more information on its website at www.afsc.ca in January. AFSC staff will hold informal meetings about Individual Coverage for producers who request it once crop insurance renewal packages for 2008 are mailed out. Falher-area producers can sign up for a meeting by contacting their local AFSC office.

Copyright © 2002 Smoky River Express. All Rights Reserved.
No part may be reproduced without written permission.

View our Privacy Statement.
Send website suggestions to the Webmaster