What is fair?

[freewheat]

I am just wondering, what is fair for unseeded acre payments. I am not a beleiver in bailouts generally, but this year is sure different and widespread.

50 bucks will not cut it, but 100 would. 50 bucks was ok the first time, semi-ok the second time, but when your hit with this problem the third time in five years it looks pretty poor.
BUT 100 is to me excessive, though It would do it for many guys. Either way, the money has to come from some program. If it comes from crop ins. it will be swift, and painful. If half comes from CI and half from agristability it is slow and painful.

Some guys seem to think that 50 bucks is plenty, and that if you couldn't seed you have no costs for the year, but those of us in wet areas know the costs are a big problem when its too wet.

I want fairness, swiftness, not excessiveness, and slowness.

What do we need guys? What really is fair?

More importantly, what can we expect the gov't to say? It's looking like a billion or two bucks maybe between the two programs. Think they'll pro-rate?

[husker]

Where's the cutoff between manmade and natural disaster.

[jensend]

if you want more coverage premiums should go up. crop insurance is already so heavily subsidized it gives a distorted estimation of risk in grain farming.

[jensend]

if you want more coverage premiums should go up. crop insurance is already so heavily subsidized it gives a distorted estimation of risk in grain farming.

[Gerald_sk]

Just wish there was a clear picture on what insurance is available.
All these program like crop insurance and ag-stability are so full of it,
we have no idea what is covered. like the old CAIS program some farmers
seem to collect millions or must it you read the reports on payouts.
The same with crop insurance. If you took my premiums and what they
say government has paid in last 3 years, I should have about $100/acre plus
credit. On the other hand even the last time in 04?, my payout for
flooded was something like $5/acre. All the flooded crop fields just
reduced my average yields and I still got less that my premium.
If I knew I would get $50 I would park the seeder, but instead
I am starting to burn fields with hope of seeding some barley
Monday.

[countryguy]

What really gets my goat is the fact that our deductable goes up another 5% this year for our unseeded acres.We are being penalized for being too wet last year like it's somehow our fault.Is it the same in Sask?

[Hopperbin]

Some of them caterpillars could feed on Canola.

[Hopperbin]

How did that post get here?

[Ron]

I expect the govt to say that $50 is lots and if you need more you have agri-whateverthehellitis to fall back on.
We are zero priority and thats just the way it is.
I feel for you Freewheat, I had a unseeded wreck in 07 and it might still sink me but all I got was $50/acre on the stuff I didnt seed and a shitload of ruts and broken equipment for the stuff I did. I dont expect any better for you guys now.
Good luck but your screwed if you need more than the $50 from crop ins.

[Hopperbin]

Perhaps I should get a payment for posting in wrong spot. In all fairness if there is such a thing, Freewheat if it was just your area that got the flooding there would be no extra gov't assistance.
In my case a flooding payment would only be deducted from my caise coverage payment. So I don't carry crop ins or hail ins at the moment. So it does not affect me and most are likely in the scenario but still choose to carry hail and or crop ins. as crop ins. is already so heavily subsidized that it ends up increasing your caise coverage but most likely to reduce you caise payment when you do get one. Anyways you don't need a lecture and no one envy's your situating. The acreage payment for flooding would come at a time good for you in your situation and hope you all the best. A lot of farmers when they get their payment here would most likely decide to use it to make a land purchase or machinery purchase, or compete even harder for rented land with higher rent payments. A lot of farmers are now worth 1 to 3 million, how much should we get and what is fair, what subsidies are we competing against from other countries, gets complicated. I think total payments from all gov't sources including the gov't portion of crop ins.should not total more than 400,000 dollars in any one year per farm entity.

[Hopperbin]

Just remember Hopper, even though any compensation from Crop insurance or a adhoc federal/provincial too wet acres payments would reduce any entitlement from Agristability that you are way better off by receiving payments from these departments.

By understanding the percentages that the Agristability program pays on each tier you would realize that you are only being compensated for approx 60% of your loss.

Also remember that participating in crop/hail insurance is also helping insure your reference margin for future years as any process are considered eligible sales.

Everyone can manage their risk differently but make sure you understand that it is not a complete offset if you forgo compensation from another program(s).

[Hopperbin]

Not neccessarily 99, hail ins. is a tuff sell here as we are in a high coverage area. I don't think it pays especially when your premium gets deducted from your agristability coverage and payments get deducted from your payment. Although added to your coverage. Kinda like a lose lose scenario.

[Hopperbin]

I know where you are coming from hopper, our hail premiums here are sometimes over 8 as well, howvever as mentioned in previous post you need to understand two things:

1) The cost sharing of the program tiers. The program only covers at best, an average of 65 percent of your loss. Even though you will have any payments from crop/hail ins included in your agristability payment calculation, you are way better off because relying on agristability would only compensate you at a lesser value.
2) There is a part in the agristability payment calculation that llooks at the premiums you have paid verses the income received in your reference margin. If you have less of a amrgin because of self insuring you will have your reference margin recalculated and the additional benfits paid to you.

[jhurkot]

$50 per acre x 10 000 000 unseeded acres =
$500 million dollars.

[bucket]

Yeah, its not that much is it. The feds just found a billion to host a G8/G20 meeting and I am pretty sure there are alot less people involved.

Throw a billion or two at ag in western canada right now because it would be far cheaper than what will happen if farmers are left hanging.

For sure their support will go down in the next election. And no political party wants that.

Now I am hoping for more rain, it makes decisions alot easier.

It beats getting dizzy on the drill trying to find a place to seed.