Severe weather resulting in more farm insurance claims in Alberta

Hail is damaging many crops within the province

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

For nearly a month, farmers in Alberta have been dealing with sizable hail damaging their crops, and producers are taking the proper precautions when it comes to insurance.

Agriculture Financial Services Corporation spokesperson Nikki Booth told CBC that as of July 25, the organization had approximately 5,800 claims. Of that number, about 5,500 were related to hail.

The number of claims this year trumps the record year of 2012, when about $450 million was paid out to farmers.

But just because it could be a record year of claims doesn’t automatically mean it will be a record year of payouts, Booth said.

While having insurance does help, it doesn’t cover everything.

“It’s a very stressful thing for farmers,” Stephen Vandervalk, a wheat, barley and canola farmer who serves as the vice president of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers’ Association in Alberta, told CBC. “You can have your whole year’s work wiped out in literally five minutes.”

Jay Schultz, a wheat and canola farmer, said until hail destroyed his crops, his fields looked great.

“Just over half of our fields are 80 to 100 per cent written off. It’s pretty depressing,” he told the Calgary Herald.

Hail floats near a toonie for size comparison.
Photo: Jay Schultz via the Calgary Herald