Agroinsurance

USA - Winterkill damage high in SD winter wheat

Winterkill damage is widespread in South Dakota’s winter wheat crop this spring. It was evident in this week’s crop rating with only 33-percent of the crop in good to excellent condition and 27 percent poor to very poor. Agronomist Clair Stymiest of Rapid City says any areas where the crop didn’t have snow cover are a total loss. He estimates as much as 50-percent of the winter wheat planted in South Dakota is damaged.He says crop insurance adjusters are busy assessing the losses and helping farmers decide on their replant options.Some farmers will look at seeding spring wheat in the bare spots.However, where the damage is more severe… Stymiest expects the wheat will be destroyed and planted to another crop such as sunflower, safflower or sorghum. He says those are popular due to their drought tolerance.Source - http://wnax.com/

New Zealand - $8m for sustainable farming projects

The government's Sustainable Farming Fund will distribute about $8 million in funding for 29 new projects.More than $16 million will also come from other sources over four years.The Sustainable Farming Fund supports generally smaller scale projects which provide practical solutions for primary industries.The latest crop includes developing aids for farmers to improve water quality and reduce nutrient loss, and helping onion and potato growers to increase production and battling rot in apples.Five forestry research projects will also get funding.The fund has invested more than $120 million in about in 950 projects during the past 15 years.Source - http://www.radionz.co.nz/

Brazil - Asian rust and dryness worries soybean farmers

Brazil’s AntiRust Consortium announced today that there will be a yields fall on soybean crops in the three southern states of the country. In Rio Grande do Sul, 118 rust spots were registered until last week, while other 92 spots were detected in Paraná and 52 in Santa Catarina.Specifically in Rio Grande do Sul, there is another problem reported as the states approaches the end of harvest. Dryness has affected the southern part of the state, a recent agricultural frontier, generating losses, according to Rio Grande do Sul’s Rural Institute of Technical Assistance. That pushed output estimates down to less than 15 million tons in that state, but it would still be a production record.Source - http://www.blackseagrain.net/

Moldova - Winter crops survived the winter well

According to calculations made on the basis of both current and expected meteorological conditions, the one-meter soil layer will contain mainly 130-170 mm of productive moisture (100-125% of normal amounts) in winter crop plantings and 130-160 mm (90-110% of normal) in fall-plowed fields by the beginning of the growing season.According to the State Meteorological Service, crops survived the 2014/15 winter well, although minimum air temperature sometimes fell to -17..-25ºC.Winter crops were covered with 2-9 cm of snow in most of the country. Its layer reached 14-23 cm in some areas – mostly in the south. As a result, almost no winterkill of winter crops was revealed. Their loss rates were 1-3% in some fields that is not higher than the natural level (10%).Source - http://www.blackseagrain.net/

Australia - Farmers to receive insurance tax break in new scheme

Australian farmers are set to be given access to tax breaks for the purchase of comprehensive crop insurance, according to reports.Agriculture minister, Barnaby Price, will release his long-awaited blueprint for the future of the agriculture industry in Australia soon and is expected to include “major tax benefits” for farmers that take out a comprehensive crop insurance policy.The paper reports that one of the key recommendations Joyce will back is the “introduction of a refundable tax offset scheme for all eligible expenditures on crop insurance.”A recent taskforce set-up by Grain Producers Australia found that a crop insurance tax benefit would introduce much needed capital into the market and help create stability for the agriculture industry which is often blighted by extreme conditions.Accounting and advisory firm RSM Bird Cameron was part of the taskforce and their director, John Thomson, told that the new recommendations to be set-out by Joyce are not another handout."It is not designed to be another government handout," Thompson said."From a cash flow perspective it effectively halves the cost of premium.Thompson noted that by utilising crop insurance, farmers can help reduce the volatility which can have a serious effect on the industry and will, in-turn, increase output."What we have modelled is that if we can take out losses for our most productive farmers, they will then engage in more productivity innovation."Source - http://www.insurancebusinessonline.com.au/

India - Over 71k farmers suffered over 50% crop damage

The scale of damage to crops due to unseasonal rain since March in the district can be gauged by the assessment report compiled by revenue officials. After a survey of the farm lands, they have identified 71,748 farmers as having suffered 50% or more crop damage.For most farmers who had expected a good crop that would enable them to repay loans, the future seems bleak. Some have not been able to cope with the loss and have succumbed to shock. Till Tuesday, 18 farmer deaths have been reported in the district. While three deaths — one each was reported from Badaun, Bareilly and Pilibhit district.As per reports, a total of 1, 49,912 farmers in the district were identified by revenue officials as having suffered crop damage, including 78,164 whose faced damage ranging from 25 to 49%. As many as 71,748 farmers were identified by as suffering from 50% or more damage.It may be recalled that earlier as many as 20,441 farmers were identified to have suffered 50% or more crop damage in March. However, the tally of affected farmers has risen after untimely rainfall in March-end and first week of April. More farmers (51,307) were identified by revenue officials.Talking to reporters, district magistrate Gaurav Dayal said, "There is no laxity in relief measures on our part. We are still awaiting crop damage compensation money from the Government of India (GOI), which so far has not granted the already sanctioned money for distribution among the affected farmers."He added, "We had already distributed 1.5 crore as relief among 4,000 farmers and as soon as we get the other instalment, we will immediately distribute it among farmers."ADM (finance and revenue) Manoj Kumar said, "An added demand of Rs 20.41crore was sent to state government after a large number of farmers were identified to be affected by revenue teams during the current survey."It may be recalled that local authorities had already claimed Rs 16.68 crore for meeting crop damage in March for paying of 20,441 farmers.He added, "Iffco-Tokia an insurance company will distribute over Rs 2.73 crore among 12,591 farmers within 10 days and orders had been already issued not to force farmers to pay loan installments. Moreover, new loans will also be available for interested farmers in spite of old loans."Source - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

Cuba - Drought affects 63% of territory

The low rainfall in Cuba during the first quarter of 2015 has led to an “intense and prolonged” drought that is affecting 63 percent of the island, with the eastern provinces feeling the worst effects.Some 8 percent of the island’s territory is currently experiencing a severe drought, while 18 percent has moderate drought conditions and 37 percent has a slight drought, the weather service’s climate center, or CENCLIM, said in a report.The drought is now affecting the water supplies of farms in the eastern provinces of Santiago de Cuba, Holguin, Guantanamo and Camaguey.The reservoirs in Santiago de Cuba are currently at only 30 percent of capacity, a shortfall of 450 million cubic meters of water, with the effects being felt in neighborhoods on the city’s outskirts, where some households have gone 16 days without receiving water, state television reported.The drought started in November and April is considered a transitional month as the rainy season approaches, the CENCLIM said.The rainfall deficit in Holguin reached 51 percent between September and April, affecting more than 32,800 people who are now depending on tanker trucks for water.The drought has caused crop losses and is now affecting planting schedules and crop yields, the daily Granma reported.Water resources officials have set up distribution sites, installed pumps at wells adjacent to urban areas, drilled new wells and built pipes.Source - http://www.laht.com/

India - Fresh government estimate puts crop loss at Rs 1,100 cr

A fresh estimate has pegged the loss of crop due to untimely rain and hailstorm more than Rs 1,100 crore with five lakh farmers being affected, UP chief secretary Alok Ranjan said Monday. He, however, refuted reports of suicide by farmers due to crop loss and said all the deaths were due to incidents related to unprecedented rain and hailstorm.“Till date, 35 people have died. These deaths were mainly due to incidents of house collapse or lightning. It has not been established anywhere that farmers had committed suicide because of crop loss,” Ranjan said talking to reporters here.On fresh estimate of crop loss he said, “The initial estimate was Rs 744 crore, which rose to Rs 850 crore in 33 districts, but as six more districts have been affected in last three days, it has gone above Rs 1,100 crore”.Ranjan said relief work was being carried out at a large scale and an additional relief of Rs 300 crore has been released for farmers and a decision has been taken to arrange another Rs 600 crore from state level. Last month, the government had released Rs 200 crore from state’s emergency funds for the same.He said the district magistrates have been directed to distribute the relief amount on priority basis. He said complaints were being received that lekhpals were conducting survey from their homes, therefore the DMs along with other officers would conduct random survey.He said as per the central guidelines, there was provision for extending financial assistance of Rs 1.5 lakh in case of death, but the state has added Rs 3.5 lakh from its own resources. “Besides, the chief minister has added another Rs 2 lakh, thus taking the total compensation package to Rs 7 lakh,” he said.The chief secretary said agricultural dues have been suspended and banks have been directed not to take any coercive measure for recovery of loans for which a meeting will be held in the next two-three days.Source - http://indianexpress.com/

Pakistan - Farmers shift from wheat to cope with floods

As millions of farmers in Pakistan and neighbouring India bear the brunt of unseasonal, heavy rains that have destroyed their crops, some have devised their own mitigation plans to cope with the crisis.Muhammad Nageen, a farmer in Thoi Valley in Pakistan’s mountainous Gilgit Baltistan area, is not familiar with the phrase climate change, but knows only too well the phenomenon of untimely, heavy rain that has led him to shift from wheat to potatoes and onions.As experts debate the why and the how of climate change in seminar rooms the world over and unseasonal rains lash Pakistan and neighbouring India, leading to fears of food production being significantly lowered, farmers like Nageen are crafting their own mitigation plans.The sowing season for a single crop started in the mountain valleys of the upper Indus region of Gilgit Baltistan shortly after the harsh winter.But this time Nageen decided to do something different. His wheat crop – the source of his livelihood and on which depended food as well as fodder — had been damaged for several years due to the change in the rain pattern and he has now moved to potatoes and onions that he believes will be more resilient.Firm in his belief that wheat will no longer bring in the dividends, he is keen on converting his 20 acres of fertile land to orchards in the long term. Every year, the ready wheat crop is either partially or completely damaged by the end of August or early September because of torrential rains. First, the standing crops flatten due to strong winds, then the grain swells and ultimately becomes useless due to the moisture.“I have no other option but to grow potatoes and onions to sell in the market and buy wheat in return. Growing wheat in these valleys seems to no more a productive option,” said Nageen. Every year, he added, the wheat crop is reduced to rubbish.Experts believe this is part of a climate change, which has been affecting the upper Indus area. The snow continues till early March and the harsh winter sets in in mid September itself. It takes at least five months to grow wheat in the mountain areas.Like Nageen, many others are doing a rethink on how to adapt to changing circumstances. Hundreds of small farmers in the region are shifting from wheat. Many people have started growing orchards of apricots, almonds and apples as an alternate option to avoid losses of livelihood due to erratic rainfall.Mayoon Khan from Barkulti village is amongst those suffering the consequences of hail and heavy rain during the harvest season. “I have planted apricot and cherry trees in two fields. I used to grown wheat in those fields,” he said. In a third field, he is growing potatoes that can withstand the vagaries of rain and also fetch an attractive market price.Ashraf Wali from Umalchat village is in the same boat too. The certainties of the past no longer hold and they are unsure about when to sow the crop.Source - http://www.eco-business.com/

India - Tea yet to find insurance coverage against adverse weather conditions

Advent of monsoon has started ringing alarm bell for the tea planters in Darjeeling as well as entire tea belt in North-eastern India. The region hosts high propensity of natural calamities like thunderstorm, heavy rainfall or hailstorm, especially during this pre monsoon season. Though highly affected by the climatic whims, tea is yet to find any insurance coverage against adverse weather conditions despite demand of the planters since long.Meteorological record clearly shows the tea belt of Bengal or Assam in a tough climatic zone. As per the Ministry of Earth Science report for the period 15th March to 15th June 2014, against nationwide total 3608 incidents of storms, this region witnessed 473 incidents, highest in the country. "The pattern here is same in this year too. It is a common trend," said G. N. Raha, Senior expert in Indian Meteorology Department.After remaining almost dry during entire winter till 25th March, Darjeeling hills and Sub Himalayan West Bengal has started witnessing a sudden spurt of heavy rainfall. It has been recorded as 61% higher than this region's long term average for this period."All these at this heavy plucking season every year cause huge commercial loss. But more alarmingly, heavy rain for longer period or high intensity hailstorm cause long term health loss for tea bushes," said tea expert and Advisory Officer of Tea Research Association D. Bargohain."Small growers with limited loss bearing capacity are worst sufferers," said Bijoy Gopal Chakroborty, Secretary of Confederation of Indian Small Tea Growers Associations ( CISTA). In India, small tea growers contribute near 35% to the national yield."We are demanding insurance coverage against climatic situations like draught, rain, hailstorm, frost or snow fall since long. It is there for coffee or rubber, but not for Tea," said Chakroborty."Discussion was initiated with Agriculture Insurance Company of India Limited to design weather based crop insurance scheme for tea. Meteorology department was also requested to provide long duration weather data for every tea producing regions for that," G. Boriah, former Director, Indian Tea Board (ITB), said.But, "We are yet to find any such scheme at ground level," said S. Seal, a senior planter from Terai region in West Bengal. When contacted, an ITB director said on condition of anonymity, "A proposal on this has been sent to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry long back. Now it depends on when and how the ministry responds."However, "Not only small tea gardens, weather based insurance will be a blessing for organized plantations too," said Seal.Source - http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/

Australia - Government backbencher backs multi peril insurance to help farmers deal with natural disasters

A Federal backbencher has given the clearest hint yet, that his government could subsidise farmers to take-up natural disaster insurance.Liberal Member for the Victorian seat of Wannon, Dan Tehan, chairs the Backbench Agricultural Committee and said the Government had spent more than $3 billion on interest rate subsidies for farmers in drought over the past decade, and it could not afford to keep doing that.He said it was better to offer farmers support to insure the cost of putting in a crop in the event of frosts, drought, floods or pests.Only one company, Latevo, offered multi-peril crop insurance last year, but its underwriter Allianz has split to offer its own.Latevo is in the process of signing another underwriter, but a national tour to meet farmers to promote the insurance package is reportedly struggling to get the message across to growers."It very well could require us to give this area a nudge, a help along, to get the market up and running and developed and that's something this government looking at in the Agricultural White paper," Mr Tehan said."As we develop multi-peril crop insurance, it works well overseas and there is a role for Government."We should use the Agricultural White paper to explore what role we should take here in Australia."Mr Tehan acknowledged it was a difficult area and that it would be ideal for the market to dictate how it would work, and the type of products available.He said if the government started subsidising the uptake of insurance, there would need to be a transition away from drought assistance."You couldn't just stop drought assistance overnight, so we would have to encourage a move to multi-peril crop insurance, and broaden that into other areas of farming, and ultimately lessen reliance on Government support through the type of drought relief at the moment."Source - http://www.abc.net.au/

USA - Drought expands across large section of nation's crop region

Drought conditions expanded last month amid weather that was warmer and drier across much of the western U.S., but spring rain in the agricultural Midwest could improve conditions for farmers preparing for the corn and soybean growing season.Weekly data released by the National Drought Mitigation Center shows moderate drought or worse covered 36.8 percent of the U.S. as of late last week, up nearly five percentage points from the previous week but slightly below last year's levels. Over the last decade, the figure has ranged from 9 percent in 2010 to nearly 52 percent during the devastating drought of 2013.Here's a look at the current conditions:FARMERS LOOKING UPSome areas of Iowa, Illinois and Kentucky saw rain last week, and additional rain could move across the same area this week. But abnormally dry areas are beginning to reflect the lack of moisture from last fall and recent months, said Brian Fuchs, a climatologist at the center.That's a change from the last few years, when too much rain left many farmers in parts of Iowa and Illinois unable to plant or work in their fields."The dryness is kind of a double-edged sword," Fuchs said. "They can get into the fields without fighting the wetness that traditionally for the last few years has been hampering some producers. But by the same token, dryness could start causing a problem down the road."Data shows that drought conditions now cover 22 percent of the land used in U.S. corn production and 18 percent of soybean land. That's a spike compared to early March, when only 6 percent of corn-growing areas and 5 percent of the soybean region.The dry weather isn't helping winter wheat. Drought now covers to 42 percent of the area where the crop is grown, up from 33 percent in early March. During the winter and early spring months, the condition of the wheat crop had already sharply declined in Nebraska, South Dakota and Kansas, said Brad Rippey, a meteorologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture who wrote the latest drought monitor report.WARY MONTHS AHEADKansas farmer Clay Scott said that this year, he hasn't seen the dirt storms he experienced in recent years. But he noted that the area is entering its fourth growing season in drought."There is a desperate need for rain right now," he said. "If we catch a good rain here shortly, we'll have a nice wheat crop here in southwest Kansas compared to last couple of years."Scott, who farms around Ulysses, is planting around 2,000 acres of corn in dry land and irrigated fields. Climatologists expect a wetter pattern to develop later this month, which gives farmers hope, he said.Drought developed during March in much of central and northern Wisconsin, with 55 percent of the state in moderate drought. Nebraska, which reported no drought four weeks ago, is now experiencing moderate drought over 22 percent of its land.A substantial jump also was reported in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. In Colorado, coverage of severe drought jumped to 40 percent from 12 percent.DRY WESTCalifornians can attest to the impact as the state enters the fourth year of widespread drought. Gov. Jerry Brown has ordered the first-ever mandatory reductions in water usage, as drought now covers more than 98 percent of the state. Two-thirds of California is in extreme to exceptional drought.The drought monitor measures drought in five levels ranging from abnormally dry which is short-term dryness that can hinder crop development to exceptional drought, which causes widespread crop loss and water shortages in reservoirs and streams leading to water emergencies.Source - http://www.bnd.com/

India - Maharashtra government plans 2000 weather stations

A mid the agrarian crisis intensified by spells of drought, hailstorm and unseasonal rain, the Maharashtra government is working on an ambitious plan to install over 2,000 weather stations, one each for small clusters of about 20-30 villages, to make detailed micro-level weather forecasts available.The automatic weather stations will have sensors to record several weather parameters important for agriculture such as temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction, rainfall, solar radiation, leaf wetness, soil moisture and temperature and atmospheric pressure. The sensors will also give details on evapotranspiration – the process by which water is transferred from the land to the atmosphere by evaporation of soil and other surfaces. Information on most factors will be available every 10 minutes.State government officials say that while other states and private companies too have automatic weather stations, this would be the first time in the country that this kind of exhaustive weather data will be made available at the level of every revenue circle. Two companies have qualified on technical grounds to set up the 2,065 automatic weather stations on a public-private partnership.A senior official from the state agriculture department said, “Currently, this kind of localized data is not available anywhere for the government to plan. The machinery of the two companies that have technically qualified is currently being actually tested on field. After that, we will open financial bids. The project is total expected to cost Rs 220 crore, of which the government will provide about Rs 100 crore in installments.”He, however, did not disclose the names of the companies that have been technically qualified for the project. A total of seven firms, namely Skymet Pvt Ltd, SPA Instruments, Sutron Corporation, TCS, Atra Microwave Ltd, Obel Pvt Ltd and NCML, had evinced interest in the project and had attended the pre-bid conference.The private company, which will be responsible for financing, procurement of the technology, installation, operation and its maintenance for a concession agreement of 10 years will be bound to provide the weather data collected to the state government free of cost. To earn revenue and cover operational expenses, the private company can sell the weather data and trends to third parties.A senior executive from a company that had evinced interest in the project said, “Other states too have automatic weather stations but this kind of multi-dimensional local data will probably be available in India for the very first time with this project. The revenue model of selling the data to other parties is very much feasible. There are many entities other than the government who would be interested such as manufacturers of pesticides and fertilizers, insurers for their crop insurance schemes, consultants, power companies and so on.”For the state government, the automatic weather stations will help in preparing location-specific agriculture advisories, better disaster management, design crop insurance schemes and establish a weather database bank.Following damage to the rabi crop due to the recent untimely rains and hailstorms, state’s Agriculture Minister Eknath Khadse had called for a thorough study of the change in climatic conditions and shifting of cropping patters, for which too this circle-level data will be useful.As per the conditions of the public-private partnership model, the company that wins the contract will also have to establish a central receiving station in Pune with all the relevant IT infrastructure to receive the data from the weather stations, validate and process it. The company will also have to provide a web-based dashboard for live streaming of the weather information.As per the schedule given to bidders, the 2,065 weather stations will be established in four phases with the installation to be complete within 18 months of signing the contract.Source - http://indianexpress.com/

USA - California farmers say drought is becoming a matter of surviving

The historic drought pushing California's agriculture industry to the brink of catastrophe is forcing farmers across the state to take out crop insurance.Governor Jerry Brown imposed an unprecedented mandatory water restriction last Wednesday, forcing cities and towns to cut usage by 25 percent.Farmers say if the drought persists, some crops could be wiped out."This thing is getting to be...it's making me very nervous," said farmer Dan Silva. "I think we're at the precipice of being critical. Very critical."Right now, about 7 million acres across California are covered under crop insurance policies, protecting $7.6 billion in crops.Farmers say it is no longer a matter of thriving, but surviving.Source - http://www.wwmt.com/

USA - Winterkill damages Nebraska wheat

It’s still too early to make a judgment on the final yields of winter wheat in the area, but low numbers are expected after widespread winterkill across Nebraska.Casey McGreer, crop agent at Western Insurors in Ogallala, said the recent moisture might help fields recover as wheat comes out of dormancy.“It’s no rhyme or reason,” said Mark Spurgin, a Paxton farmer and executive board member of the Nebraska Wheat Growers Association.Spurgin said where one field would have 5 percent losses, a crop across the road could suffer 80-90 percent losses. There isn’t any one indicator on why a crop suffered from winterkill, he said, although drought conditions and fluctuating temperatures during the winter were factors.This winter was telling for the hardiness of wheat varieties, where some succumbed to temperature fluctuations and drought. Different varieties of winter wheat winterkill differently, according to Bob Klein, crops specialist for Nebraska Extension-North Platte, and P. Stephen Baenziger, professor of agronomy.Klein and Baenziger wrote that the southwest corner of Nebraska was the hardest hit by winterkill. They said because of higher temperatures in November, soil moisture depleted. The lack of moisture during February and March compounded the issue.For farmers who haven’t lost much wheat to winterkill, yields can be salvaged, but other options are to replant the field or abandon it.“It’s a little early yet to know exactly what to do,” said Tim Goding, grain manager at Ag Valley Co-op in Edison.Spurgin said this was the first time in his memory that winterkill has been so extensive across the state.“This year it’s places where you think wouldn’t be hit,” he said.But that’s the fun part of farming, too — dealing with some of the surprises, he said. The Panhandle wasn’t hit as hard.Farmers will likely have insured crops with the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation and possibly a local organization, McGreer said, which covers crops in the event of peril from Mother Nature.Source - http://www.nptelegraph.com/