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Farmers turning to insurance after hail storm

Crops in the Okotoks area and east to Blackie were pounded by the summer hailstorm last week, leaving some farmers turning to their insurance for payouts.

Crops in the Okotoks area and east to Blackie were pounded by the summer hailstorm last week, leaving some farmers turning to their insurance for payouts.

Rick Hansen said two-thirds of his wheat, barley, canola and pea fields in fields south of Blackie were damaged.

The extreme weather system hit Okotoks around 4 p.m. on June 28 and moved east across the Foothills to the Blackie area.

A large amount of hail fell and strong winds blew in, leaving a swath of destruction behind it.

“There was lots of hail,” Hansen said. “Most of it was pea-sized, but some hail was the size of walnuts. The plants are all bedraggled and the leaves were torn off and the stems are broken.”

Crops were hit hard by the hail. He estimates that 1,000 of his 3,500 acres of crops is not salvageable.

An adjustor will survey the damage next week, said Hansen.

“We will go around field by field,” he said.

The storm cut a wide swath around Blackie, but some areas were not as bad as others.

“That was a pretty big storm,” he said, adding crops on the fringes of the weather system sustained less damage.

Some of his barley crop could still be used for feed, but will fetch a lower price, he said.

“The barley will end up being light,” he said. “It won’t mature. I could get $44/bushel rather than $48/bushel. That is 25 percent less off what you’d get for it usually.”

Hansen has hail Agriculture Financial Services (AFSC) hail coverage, but said it may not be enough.

“I wish I had more coverage now,” he said.

Next year he may increase his coverage, Hansen said.

“We seem to be managing our level of risk on the farm, but next year we may be putting more (insurance coverage) on,” he said. “You can’t take something like this two years in a row.”

Crop farmer Mike Imler also has crop insurance that he is hoping to cash in on. His canola crop near the D’Arcy Ranch golf course and across from the Okotoks Home depot were decimated by the sudden storm. Another field he farms near the Saskatoon Farm was also damaged.

“The canola seemed to be doing really well,” Imler said. “It was just about to bolt, or flower, and now it is just dirts and rock. There no denying it is a complete write off.”

Imler said he had already invested more than just seeds and time in his crops.

“The fertilizer was already in the ground and it I have it all sprayed,” he said.

Imler has crop insurance, not just hail insurance.

“They will have to come up with something,” Imler said.

Although summer storms are to be expected in southern Alberta, this one was particularly devastating, he said.

“I’ve never seen it shred it like that,” he said. “All that was left was rock and dirt.”

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