The provincial government says the number of wild rice producers in the north insuring their crops has remained the same.
Shawn Jakes with Saskatchewan Crop Insurance says over the past three years they haven’t seen an increase or a decrease in those numbers.
Jakes says even though they haven’t seen an increase in applicants, they are still comfortable where wild rice coverage stands.
“We offer insurance programs on a lot of specialty crops, with wild rice being one of them,” said Jakes. “We have a sound program and the program is sustainable and it is the people who chose to insure, so we are OK with where we are at.”
The 2015 insured price for wild rice producers is $1.20/lb, up from $0.93/lb. last year.
The actual premium rates paid for insurance depend on region and the level of coverage.
Producers choosing a 70 per cent level of coverage for their crop would see premiums as follows:
Northwest – $1.17/acre (up from $1.02/acre last year)
Northcentral – $2.67/acre (up from $2.61/acre last year)
Northeast – $1.32/acre (up from $1.29/acre last year)
A more in-depth look at insurance premiums for wild rice harvesters can be found online at http://www.saskcropinsurance.com/cropinsurance/wild-rice.
Producers have until March 31 to apply for, cancel or make changes to their crop insurance for this year.