When grain prices don’t ‘spring’ upwards

Apr 19, 2018

The Spring Price Endorsement provides Alberta’s producers with additional crop coverage

By Kate Ayers
Staff Writer
Farms.com

Alberta producers now have another option for crop insurance called the Spring Price Endorsement (SPE), provided through Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC).

The SPE is a supplementary election to production insurance at the 60 to 80 per cent coverage level, Alberta Agriculture and Forestry said in an article last week.

The endorsement provides producers with some protection against a price drop on insured crops. Each winter, AFSC sets a spring price for each crop. In October, AFSC determines a fall price. Both figures are based on market prices.

“This year, a 10 per cent claim deductible on SPE has been introduced, reducing those premiums by 20 to 30 per cent, depending on the crop selected,” Neil Blue, the provincial crop market analyst with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, said in the article.

“The payment trigger remains the same. The fall market price needs to drop below the spring insurance price by at least 10 per cent.

“If the Spring Price Endorsement is triggered, … (it) will pay back up to 90 per cent of the spring insurance price on production produced, or deemed to be produced, up to the coverage elected.”

SPE coverage is limited to a 50 per cent drop from the spring price, the article said.

A claim under SPE can occur whether there is a production claim or not.

Producers can also use forward contracts or futures and options (if applicable) to protect themselves against price drops.

For more information about the Spring Price Endorsement, producers can call AFSC at 1-877-899-2372. Grain buyers are reliable sources to provide information on price contracts.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.