By Dori Modney (@Dori_Modney on Twitter) with fiels from The Canadian Press

In the Field – Taking a look at Crop Insurance- Canola and Bees

Apr 28, 2017 | 4:21 PM

LETHBRIDGE – Country-95’s In the Field covered a wide variety of agriculture related items during the week of April 23 to the 28 and there were several stories to take note of as farmers prepare for spring seeding.

Alta-Crop-Insurance:

Agriculture Minister Oneil Carlier has met with crop commissions in the province to discuss their concerns on unharvested crops.

He says he understands the need to expedite crop insurance claims with protecting producers’ hard-earned premium payments.

He says he’s asked the Agriculture Financial Corporation Services to streamline inspection procedures to assist insured producers in completing planned harvests.

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He says it will help producers spend less time worrying about last year’s crop, and more time preparing for the coming growing season. 

Canola seeding:

An agronomist with the Canola Council of Canada says now is a good time for canola growers to start making plans for seeding rates.

Angela Brackenreed says these rates should be based on individual seed lots and fields.

She notes the seed weight is given in grams per thousand seeds and can be found on every bag of certified seed.

Knowing the plant stand target and expected seed survival makes it possible to determine what the seeding rate should be. 

Syngenta-Bees:

Syngenta Canada and the Soil Conservation Council of Canada are partnering to expand Operation Pollinator in western Canada.

The Syngenta program focuses on research and partnerships to promote the health and well-being of bees and other pollinators.

Farmers in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta are eligible to sign up for the program.

Producers are being asked to convert one-to-two acres of lower-productivity land to establish a dedicated operation pollinator site. In exchange for the land-use, farmer receive a pollinator-friendly wildflower seed and agronomic advice.