Sask. grandfathers farm license plates for 2010

Saskatchewan farmers who had planned to license their vehicles with farm (“F”) plates but couldn’t seed the required amount of crop will get to keep their 2009 designation.

Normally, the Crown auto insurer Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI) would require that farmers seed a minimum amount of crop in a given year to continue to drive with F plates.

But “due to continuous rain, many farmers have been unable to seed enough land to meet this requirement,” the province said in a release Wednesday.

SGI said it will thus waive the seeding eligibility requirement for 2010.

“We understand (farmers’) frustration and want to lighten their burden by removing the minimum seeded crop requirements for farm plates,” June Draude, the minister responsible for SGI, and previously a farmer at Spalding in the province’s northeast, said in the release.

To qualify for the one-time exemption, a farmer must have licensed his or her vehicle with farm plates in 2009. He or she must also plan to continue farming in 2011 and to seed enough crop to qualify for farm plates next year.

The exemption is effective immediately and runs to June 1, 2011, the province said.

Normally the F plate is limited to vehicles owned by active farmers, active farm corporations, farmers winding down their farms or active farmers in the midst of diversifying.

Saskatchewan farm plates can be displayed on trucks, trailers and vans larger than “one-ton” models. The F designation provides lower registration fees and insurance premiums for most eligible vehicles.