Support Introduced To Saskatchewan Producers In The Southwest And West Central Regions Impacted By Wildlife Damage

Released on May 17, 2023

Today, Federal Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister David Marit announced a supplemental freight adjustment to further support Saskatchewan producers who experienced wildlife damage to their stacked forage.

“Saskatchewan producers continue to be resilient in the face of ongoing climate-related challenges," said Bibeau. “We will continue to work with our provincial counterparts to ensure that impacted producers have the coverage and stability they need.” 

"In southwestern Saskatchewan, there are producers who have suffered multiple years of dry conditions and experienced an increase of wildlife damage," Marit said. "To maintain their herds, some needed to travel throughout the province to replace feed damaged by wildlife.  We have listened to the concerns of our producers and industry and are responding to reduce hardship to those most affected."

The Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation (SCIC) administers the Wildlife Damage Compensation Program. For 2022-23, SCIC has reassessed and finalized the 2022-23 Wildlife Compensation values for forage products. The updated values includes a freight adjustment payment to compensate producers for the additional cost of transporting feed. The adjustment reflects higher than normal replacement feed costs in specific parts of the province. The top-up is only applicable to Wildlife Damage stacked forage claims registered between September 1, 2022 - March 31, 2023. To be eligible for the adjustment, a producer must have filed a wildlife damage claim after September 1, 2022.

The Freight Adjustment will supplement wildlife damage compensation claims for producers whose stacked forage yard sites are located in the southwest and west central regions of the province. Freight adjustments are determined by location and will be applied only to the tonnes of feed that were lost or damaged by wildlife. For more information, contact your local SCIC office or visit scic.ca. 

The Wildlife Damage Compensation Program is a Business Risk Management (BRM) program supported through the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership. Compensation (up to 80 per cent of the production loss) is shared 60 per cent by the Government of Canada and 40 per cent by the Government of Saskatchewan. The remaining 20 per cent is paid by the Government of Saskatchewan. Administrative expenses are fully funded by governments, 60 per cent by Canada and 40 per cent by Saskatchewan.

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