QUALITY LOSSES COVERED BY CROP INSURANCE

Due to questions raised as a result of recent media reports, Crop Insurance assures all customers that quality losses are covered under their contract of insurance. In fact, most of the claims that Crop Insurance has processed this year have been due to quality loss.

A Crop Insurance contract provides each customer with a yield guarantee at a designated grade. When the grade of the harvested production is lower than the standard grade, a quality factor is applied to the yield-loss claim, reducing the harvested production to compensate producers for the quality loss.

If, after applying a quality factor, a producer's harvested production (yield) is still greater than his or her production guarantee, then there would be no payable claim.

Quality factors are calculated by comparing the harvest grade selling price to the standard grade selling price on a provincial basis. The 2004 quality factors are available at www.saskcropinsurance.com under Insured Prices and at customer service office locations.

To date, Crop Insurance has completed 11,000 claims and paid $72 million to customers. Crop Insurance will complete another 20,000 claims this crop year.

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For More Information, Contact:

Stan Benjamin Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corp. Melville Phone: (306) 728-7205