This is probably not the year to skip Excess Moisture Insurance, according to Minto-area farmer and KAP president Bill Campbell.
As Manitoba farmers struggle to get the rest of this year’s crop off, there are already worries about what 2020 might bring.
“In our particular area we may not seed a crop,” Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) president Bill Campbell told the organization’s advisory council meeting here Oct. 25. “That would be the worst-case scenario. I would suggest everybody have their excess moisture (insurance) (EMI) coverage at a level they are comfortable with.”
The deadline to make changes to EMI coverage is Dec. 2 this year.
EMI compensates producers who cannot seed their crops before June 20 due to excessively wet conditions.
The EMI program also has a High Dollar Value Option that allows farmers to increase coverage from the basic $50 an acre to $75 or $100 an acre.
“There are a lot of things happening as a consequence of this weather that a lot of the industry are somewhat aware of, but I am not sure the general public and the government are aware.”
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Farmers could be disappointed with what they get from crop insurance, Campbell said. Many farmers harvested enough crop earlier to be out of a claim even though the crop being harvested now is downgraded and some crop might not get harvested.
“What is left on the landscape is your money,” he said.
