Better crop insurance

Strong grain prices are making the Saskatchewan Crop Insurance program more attractive. Under the program details announced yesterday, coverage is going from an average of $131 an acre in 2010 to $173 an acre this year. You only need to look at the crop insurance base prices to know why. The crop insurance price for canola is $10.89 a bushel, spring wheat is $6.04, durum is $6.34, flax is $12.70, barley is $3.48 and field peas are $5.62 a bushel. Large green lentils have a crop insurance base price of 28 cents a pound, red lentils are 24, canaryseed is 25, and yellow mustard is just under 25 cents a pound. In most cases, the prices are considerably better than last year and that has boosted coverage levels. Of course, both government and producers will pay a higher premium for that increased protection. Another major change is the unseeded acreage benefit, which is going from $50 to $70 an acre. The seeding intensity calculation has also been revised and this is supposed to make it easier to qualify for the benefit on more acres. Last year, the two levels of government came out with a $30 add-on program for unseeded acres. Now that support has been increased within crop insurance, don’t expect any top-up. I’m Kevin Hursh.