There is hope that Alberta farmers, with a reprieve from Mother Nature, may escape the record-breaking crop damage of 2012.

Up until the start of this week, the number of insurance claims for crops damaged by severe weather was tracking just above those made four years ago, resulting in a $450-million payout to 6,898 insurance contracts.

As of Aug. 1, 7,003 crop damage claims have been made by the province's farmers, with 3,900 of those still being investigated by a team of 150 on-farm inspectors.

Some provincial crops have been decimated by hail. Farmers are well aware the closer to harvest that storms strike, the more costly they become.

"And the storms just keep on coming," Agriculture Financial Services Corp. spokeswoman Nikki Booth said. "Mother Nature is your best friend or your worst enemy."

Between 200 and 300 incidents are classified as pre-harvest claims (too much rain, crops too dry, insect infestation or wildlife incidents), plus a total of 6,435 hail claims, Booth said. The other claims fall under a miscellaneous category.

Southern Alberta has been the hardest hit, along with Lacombe, Ponoka and Red Deer, also referred to as Hail Alley.

"Some producers experienced tennis-ball-sized hail and there are several producers who have been hit by several storms, and that's catastrophic," she said. "Even pea-sized hail can do some pretty significant damage."

The number of this year's claims won't necessarily mean the damage bill will eclipse the 2012 payout, with Booth warning the final figure for this year will depend "on crop value and the magnitude of the claims."

That final number may not be known until October.

"We try to manage our resources so producers aren't waiting and right now, for 80 per cent of the claims that have been inspected, has been taking about 25 days," she said.

"That's more than we like, but obviously when you have 7,000 claims come in between May and July, I think it's understandable that it is going to take some time."

Saskatchewan and Manitoba farmers have also had a rough year.

Saskatchewan's Co-operative Hail Insurance's chief operating officer Murray Bantle said his organization is seeing a 60-per-cent increase over normal years and the ratio of claims to policies in the province is above the five-year average for this time of year.

"There aren't as many August storms, but they tend to be more expensive and more severe," Bantle said.

The latest hail report from the Canadian Crop Hail Association said between mid-June and mid-July there were only two days with no hail reported in Saskatchewan. It's a similar story for Manitoba farmers, with a ratio of claims to policies "significantly higher than average." Farmers are still reeling from a horrible season last year when the Alberta government declared a provincewide agricultural disaster as a result of drought. It is estimated that the insurance payout was close to $1 billion, with 80 per cent of Alberta farmers struggling with drought. It's not just farmers facing mounting costs because of hail. The damage bill to property for June’s ferocious hailstorm that struck central Alberta was estimated at $50 million. The severe weather June 29 ripped through Calgary, Okotoks and Edmonton, but Ponoka was the hardest hit.

jgraney@postmedia.com

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