The Manitoba Cattle Producers Association has sent out a news release saying what many producers have been thinking – the so-called AgriRecovery program needs established consistent guidelines. The MCPA lobbied both the Manitoba and federal governments for an AgriRecovery program for cattle producers in the southwest corner of that province due to extreme drought conditions. They asked for the same assistance offered to the Interlake and Westlake regions due to flooding. Manitoba was denied drought assistance, but assistance was recently announced for livestock producers in dry regions in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Although it was touted as a way to avoid ad hoc, politically-motivated farm support programs, AgriRecovery seems just as political and just as arbitrary. What were the criteria for including some Saskatchewan RMs and Alberta counties, while excluding others? How was the per animal payment level determined? Can AgriRecovery play any role in the wet planting issues now plaguing producers? Lots of questions. Very few answers. I’m Kevin Hursh.
An extension was announced last week to the Saskatchewan Crop Insurance seeding deadline. While a commendable gesture, it may not be in a producer’s best interests to still be trying to seed on June 15 or 20. Seeding into mud typically results in poor emergence and a poor crop. And yield potential steadily declines as seeding moves later. On land that’s too wet to seed, Saskatchewan Crop Insurance provides an Unseeded Acreage Payment. While advertised at $50 an acre, it doesn’t work out that high after you consider the deductible and apply the seeding intensity factor. Typically the payment works out to more like $30 or $40 per unseeded acre. That isn’t a lot of money and you will still have weed control costs on that land later in the season. Still, in many cases, it looks pretty good compared to what you might earn by growing a substandard cereal crop. The picture is better with canola due to better price prospects and better crop insurance coverage, so there is more incentive to keep trying to get canola seeded right up to the deadline. In some instances, canola is being spread by high flotation outfits and then harrowed into the saturated soil. Typically this is land where fertilizer has already been applied and a lot of the nutrients will be wasted if there’s no crop this year. I’m Kevin Hursh.