Weather dominates talk during day 1 at Ag in Motion

A soggy day 1 of Ag in Motion wrapped up with lots of talk about the weather and innovation.

The show near Langham has never received rain in its five years until Tuesday, but rain at any time is welcomed following the dry spell earlier on in the season.

One weather aspect that’s unwelcomed at this point in the year is hail.

Thunderstorms have popped up throughout the province this July that have hurt producer’s fields.

Wayne Sarich farms seven kilometres south of Craik, and he said a storm ripped through his area on Sunday night, causing damage.

“We ended up with some pretty extensive hail damage. Some of our neighbours are looking at 100 per cent write-off of their crops,” he said. “It just came in and decimated a lot.”

He said some producers do carry hail insurance, but it’s mixed.

Sarich says it is a risk, but Sunday’s storm had mixed damage in his fields.

“It just cut like a knife. I have one field that’s only a quarter section north of the other, and the one got hit pretty good and the other is sitting okay.”

On the other side, Municipal Hail has been busy with claims through this season.

After a quiet June, their CEO Rodney Schoettler said July started off with “a big event,” and the hail hasn’t stopped since then.

“In the month of July, it’s hailed every day since July 1. Traditionally, we get 31 hail days in the month of July.”

Schoettler couldn’t give specifics on the severity, but said this past weekend has made their offices busy.

“The biggest event of the year was just this past weekend. Our office is expecting between 1,200 and 1,400 claims from the weekend. It’s a big area.”

In terms of which way to go to file claims, Schoettler said they accept any type, whichever is easiest for the producer.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe also weighed in on the stormy July during day 1 of Ag in Motion.

“This is a challenge that we face in this industry and in this province each and every year,” he said. “I certainly hope that those effected have hail insurance and are part of some type of business risk management service.”

Day 2 of Ag in Motion begins on Wednesday at 9 a.m., and continues until 4 p.m. at the site 9 kilometres west of Langham.