Wheat in July, 2015. (Photo by Ray Baynton)Wheat in July, 2015. (Photo by Ray Baynton)
Sarnia

Agricorp Reports 25% Drop In Insured Wheat Acres In Ontario

Agricorp has received about 20 per cent more crop damage reports this year than average for the Chatham-Kent/Essex region.

Most of the reports are linked to the excessive rain this spring and the May frost.

However, spokesman Jim Zavitz points out not all damage reports end up being claims.

He says it's not unusual for farmers to report damage, then find the crop is viable and take it to harvest.

It will be after growers report their final yield numbers before Zavitz figures Agricorp will be able to determine how many acres will be claiming production insurance this year.

Zavitz says 460 thousand acres of wheat, 1 point 6 million of corn and 2 point 2 million of soybeans have been registered for production insurance across Ontario.

That's down about 25 per cent from the three year average for wheat and about average for both corn and soybeans.

Agricorp is also reminding wheat growers that production insurance does cover quality downgrading situations.

Zavitz says with the wheat harvest underway some growers are reporting fusarium problems are resulting in crop downgrades.

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Now that the harvest has started, Zavitz says wheat growers are running into downgrading problems because of fusarium.

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Zavitz says they've had almost 7 thousand crop damage reports so far this season.

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Zavitz points out the last few years have seen some extremes in wet and dry conditions that farmers seem to have been able to survive.

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