The Rural Voice, 1991-08, Page 44PERTH
Matt Crowley, President, R. R. 1, Gadshill NOK 1JO 393-5716
PCFA Office 229-6430
* The Rural Voice is provided to farmers
in Perth County by the PCFA
County Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER
USING HAILSTONES AS STEPPING STONES
The July third hailstorm which dev-
astated thousands of acres of crops in
Perth and Huron counties has provided a
glaring example of inequities in the
Canada/Ontario Crop Insurance pro-
gram. Farmers, who have lost 100 or
200 acres of corn and beans, may not
ever sce a cent of insurance, even though
premiums have been paid on every acre,
simply because their other farms may
bring total yield up to the 80 per cent
average yield covered by insurance.
Crop insurance policies should be
written individually on a farm -by -farm
basis, eg. Lot "X", Con. "Y", Twp. "Z",
rather than the sum total acre planted to
a specific crop by one farmer.
Documentation should be required
for cultural practices to prevent abuse of
the system, eg. use of quality seed, rea-
sonable weed control, record of planting
time and harvest date, so that the poorest
farm isn't simply ignored and then
claimed for insurance.
Existing rules covering crop insur-
ancc would be well-suited to regulating
a farm -specific system. These include:
coverage based on historic yields; eligi-
bility dependent on adequate field
preparation; eligibility dependent on
planting deadlines.
Using the "lot and concession" defi-
nition of a farm eligible for crop insur-
ance, rather than total of acres farmed,
would have a number of benefits:
• All farmers would be equally well -
covered when they sign up for insur-
ance.
• Many farmers who work several or
numerous plots of land would be much
more likely to participate in crop insur-
ancc. Common sense says that the more
participants in the program, equates to
more Tong -term economic stability for
the crop insurance scheme, and farmer
premiums should, theoretically, remain
at a reasonable level.
• Weather patterns "appear" to be
more and more localized. As farmers
work more plots of land, the odds be-
come greater that one plot may be hit by
a freak storm such as the aforemen-
40 THE RURAL VOICE
boned hailstorm. An improved insur-
ance program would provide some
peace of mind, as well as economic
protection.
• As input costs rise, and margins
grow slimmer, banks view the farm
economy with increasing skepticism.
Site-specific crop insurance would help
to safeguard their loans to farmers.
Consequently, loans might be more
readily available at spring planting time,
and rates might even be better, in pro-
portion to a reduced risk.
Where a home farm, or base farm,
has grown to 200 or 300 acres in one
block, farmers may wish to simplify
paperwork and combine these on one
endorsement. This degree of flexibility
is important.
Combined property and crop dam-
age attributable to the hail July third is
likely to run into the millions of dollars.
The human element — lost labour, dis-
Nearly 19,000 acres of crops were dam-
aged or destroyed in a July 3 hailstorm.
Here, a cornfield shows the shredding
effect.
couragement, and emotional strain of
"starting over" is just as significant, al-
though it cannot be expressed in tan-
gible terms like dollars and cents, only
in tears and toil. To salvage something
positive from this, the OFA should use
these hailstones as stepping stones to
negotiate a more equitable crop insur-
ance system with Agriculture Canada
and OMAF.
All Perth Federation of Agriculture
members are invited to express a view-
point on this page. Send your ideas to
John Drummond, R. R. 5, Mitchell, ON
NOK 1 NO.
PCFA
SOCIAL EVENING
(replacing August meeting)
Thursday, August 22, 1991
Ellice Township Hall
Rostock
8:00 p.m.
Bring your
spouse/friend/neighbour
socialize with
directors and members
Staying with this year's theme
"Farm Locally Think Globally"
we have invited participants from
the Advance Agricultural Lead-
ership Program, Rick DeBraban-
dere and Linda Hodgins, to bring
highlights of their trip to China and
other aspects of the Leadership
Program.
EVERYONE WELCOME
MARK THIS DATE ON
YOUR CALENDAR
ANNUAL MEETING PCFA
Thursday, October 10, 1991
Sebringville Community
Centre