Wild Rice Growers Give Crop Insurance Good Reviews

Wild Rice Growers Give Crop Insurance Good Reviews

Thursday, March 06, 2008 at 13:09

The 22nd Annual Saskatchewan Wild Rice Conference is taking place today in La Ronge.

Many of the delegates have been talking about the new crop insurance scheme.

For the past four harvests, wild rice production in northern Saskatchewan has been well below the 10-year average — prompting Saskatchewan Crop Insurance to bring its service to the industry for the first time ever.

Agrologist Gerry Ivanochko believes the crop insurance program went pretty well, considering last season was the first year it was available to producers.

Ivanochko says there was a “very good sign-up” of 129 harvesters.

He also notes that growers in two of the three regions in the North qualified for payments, and that a lot of the producers seem to be quite satisfied with the program.

With higher-than-average spring runoff and low spring temperatures expected for much of the North this year, most producers are expecting another poor year on the lakes.