At least 1.2M acres of crop still on the field in Sask.

It may be just past the middle of November — a little more than a month until Christmas — but some farmers in Saskatchewan are still out in the fields, trying to get their crops off.

Shawn Jaques, president and CEO of the Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation (SCIC), said it has been a tough season for some.

“It started out (and) it was cool (and) it was dry, which resulted in spotty germination in parts of the province,” he said Tuesday. “And then the delayed harvest has caused some challenges, particularly downgrading a number of crops.”

The early snow and colder temperatures caused problems for many.

The deadline to file claims and extensions to the SCIC was Friday, but Jaques said corporation officials know producers are busy and they’ll still take claims if farmers call.

As of Friday, Jaques said the SCIC had about 3,200 requests to extend insurance through the winter to the spring. That represented 1.2 million acres not harvested — most of them from the central part of Saskatchewan.

He said he expects that number to increase as more claims come in and requests are processed.

Jaques didn’t say whether that number was higher or lower than other years, as he said every year is different and depends on which crops are seeded in which parts of the province.

He gave 2016 as an example, when there were 6,800 extensions filed representing about 1.6 million acres.

As of Friday there were also 5,800 claims registered, and Jaques expects that number to rise. This doesn’t seem to be a bad year for claims: In 2018 there were 8,000 and in 2016 there were 10,000.

It hasn’t been a bad year for producers right across the province.

Jaques said he’s also hearing from some producers who had really good crops. They noted the harvest seemed to drag on, but their yield was really good.