Farmers report less hail damage across western Canada with milder weather

Farmers in western Canada got a break from the severe weather they saw earlier in July though storms continued to produce hail that damaged crops, according to the Canadian Crop Hail Association.

The storms occurred July 22-26.

CCHA member companies are investigating about 300 claims made by farmers in Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan during the time period.

The number of claims is lower than the more than 3,000 reported July 6-18. Claims from that time period are still coming in and continue to be investigated.

Farmers in the Alberta communities of Forty Mile, Cypress County, Flagstaff County, Wainwright and Provost reported hail damage from storms on July 23, according to Jackie Sanden of Agriculture Financial Services Corporation.

Farmers reported damage in Leduc and Wetaskiwin and scattered areas between Wainwright and St Paul on July 24, Sanden said.

In Manitoba, a July 22 storm produced pea-sized hail that damaged crops in Sanford, according to Brendan Blight of Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation.

The bulk of the claims reported so far came from farmers in the Saskatchewan communities of Landis, Kelfield, North Battleford, Davidson, Simpson, Cupar, Southey, Mossbank and Assiniboia after storms on July 22 and 28, according to Darryl Tiefenbach of Additional Municipal Hail.

“This week was slower and less severe,” he said. “The storm dates of July 11-14 and July 18 are proving to be the largest number of claims so far this year.”

Also in Saskatchewan, hail damaged crops in Gull Lake, Canora, Cutknife, Battleford, Elrose, and Spiritwood on July 19, according to Murray Bantle of Co-operative Hail Insurance Company. Hail also damaged crops in Frobisher on July 25 and in Cutknife and Battleford on July 27, Bantle said. He said cereals, legumes, oilseeds had light to heavy damage.

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The Canadian Crop Hail Association (CCHA) has been serving the crop insurance industry since 1915. It is a member-driven organization that represents the interests of the Canadian Crop Hail managing general agencies and insurance companies. Our companies service agriculture producers in the western prairies. These private and government organizations together provide a risk management tool to the Western Canadian prairie farmer. Members are Additional Municipal Hail Ltd. (Saskatchewan), Ag Direct Hail Insurance Ltd, Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (Alberta), Canadian Hail Agencies Inc., Co-operative Hail Insurance Company, Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation, Palliser Insurance Company Ltd. and Rain and Hail Insurance Service Ltd.