Saskatchewan extends WLPIP premium rebate if needed

Saskatchewan’s temporary subsidy against price jumps in premiums for the Western Livestock Price Insurance Program (WLPIP) will continue when needed to the end of 2020.

Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corp. (SCIC), which administers the program in that province, announced Tuesday the WLPIP premium rebate is extended to Dec. 31, from its previous end date of Sept. 1.

The province in mid-May budgeted $5 million to help offset WLPIP premiums, which under COVID-19-related pressure rose from $15-$20 per head up to around $70 in mid-April, slipping in May to a still-high relatively “more reasonable” range.

“If the livestock market remains stable during this time, the premium rebate will not be offered,” SCIC said in the extension announcement.

The rebate plan set up by the province would provide rebates for up to 40 per cent of the increases in premiums above pre-COVID levels. The Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association put up an additional $1 million, for a further eight per cent offset.

Premium tables and rebate amounts are updated each Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday on the SCIC website.

As of Wednesday (Sept. 2), however, SCIC’s tables for WLPIP-Fed and WLPIP-Feeder price insurance premiums had no rebate amounts listed.

WLPIP-Fed premiums for Sept. 2 ran from as low as 60 cents per hundredweight (cwt) for a 12-week coverage period (to Nov. 30, 2020) at an insured index of $100/cwt, to as high as $4.54/cwt for a 36-week coverage period (to May 17, 2021) at an insured index of $144/cwt.

Premiums for the same coverage on the WLPIP website were up slightly the following day (Sept. 3), at 61 cents/cwt and $4.58/cwt respectively.

The settlement index for the WLPIP-Fed product is based on the weekly Alberta fed cattle price, using Canfax data, while the WLPIP-Feeder index is based on the average price of an 850-lb. steer.

An expansion of an Alberta program set up in 2009, WLPIP launched across the four western provinces in 2014 to help producers manage price, currency and basis risk against market volatility.

A participating producer pays premiums for forward price coverage, and if the market price drops below the coverage price in the chosen time frame selected, the producer gets a payment. — Glacier FarmMedia Network