Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation

Eligibility

 

Eligible Producers

You are eligible for Tame Hay Insurance coverage if you have an active MASC Contract of Insurance, you grow eligible tame hay crops in Manitoba, and you've selected Tame Hay Insurance before the {deadline} deadline. Landlords are not eligible for Tame Hay insurance.

To qualify for Tame Hay Insurance, you must insure all your tame hay acres (in which you have an interest) at the same coverage level ({coverage1}%, {coverage2}%, or {coverage3}%).

Note: To qualify for Pasture Insurance, you must also select Tame Hay Insurance. You have until {deadline} to apply for both programs.

Eligible Crops

Coverage is available for the following tame hay crops:

• Alfalfa: stands of tame hay in which 75% or more is comprised of alfalfa
• Alfalfa / Grass Mixtures: mixed stands of alfalfa and cultivated perennial grasses in which alfalfa comprises from 25% to 74% of the stand
• Grasses: all cultivated perennial grass species, where the cultivated grass types comprises 75% or more of the stand
• Sweet Clover: stands comprised of 75% sweet clover or more

Ineligible Crops

MASC does not insure annual crops, native species (eg. slough grass), or invasive species (eg. quackgrass, weeds) under the Tame Hay Insurance program. Fields intended for pasture are also not eligible under this program.

Grazing Eligible Crops

If, after one cut of tame hay:

• The insured is over coverage and wants additional tame hay production that will be grazed to be included in their IPI calculation, at the insured's request MASC will appraise the production available at the time of the inspection. This appraised production will be included in the next year's probable yield.
• The insured is over coverage and wants additional tame hay production that will not be used for grazing or for a second cut (i.e. surplus production) to be included in their IPI calculation, at the insured's request MASC will appraise the production available at the time of the inspection on a fee-for-service basis. This appraised production will be included in the next year's probable yield.

If the insured's livestock grazes the tame hay acreage without the prior written consent of MASC, the insured will not be entitled to an indemnity.

In all cases, grazing acreages designated as tame hay will impact an insured's coverage, probable yield, or both. Always contact your local MASC Insurance Office prior to releasing livestock on tame hay acres for the purpose of grazing.

Eligible Causes of Loss

Eligible causes of loss include:

• Natural perils: drought, excessive moisture, excessive rainfall, flood, frost, winterkill, hail, fire, excessive heat, wind (including tornadoes), disease, and pests
• Big game: bear, deer, elk, moose, and wood bison
• Waterfowl: ducks, geese, and sandhill cranes

Ineligible Causes of Loss

Tame Hay Insurance does not cover:

• infestation of noxious weeds
• losses to stored or baled production*
• over-grazing by livestock
• losses due to poor management

* Stored hay may be eligible for losses incurred by big game under the Wildlife Damage Compensation program.

Restrictions

Only established tame hay acres are eligible. To qualify, alfalfa stands must be one, two, or three-years old, while stands of alfalfa / grass mixes and grasses must be one, two, three, four, or five-years old. Insurance may be extended beyond these periods after a field inspection is completed and the stand is deemed to be satisfactory. Sweet clover is only insurable the year after it is established.

Costs & Coverage

Tame Hay Insurance is cost shared {producer_share}% by the producer, {federal_share}% by the Government of Canada and {provincial_share}% by the Province of Manitoba, as part of the Federal-Provincial Growing Forward Framework agreement.

MASC divides the province into 35 designated Forage Areas with similar soil types and climatic conditions to establish a base coverage and Individual Productivity Indexes (IPI). MASC calculates a probable yield for each forage crop type grown within a Forage Area. Forage Areas are then grouped into six Forage Regions, with all lands within a region designated as having the same premium rate.

Relative Feed Value

The Relative Feed Value (RFV) is a quality guarantee for tame hay that reflects the average quality of tame hay in Manitoba. The RFV of alfalfa is {alfalfa::grade}, sweet clover's RFV is {clover::grade}, the RFV of alfalfa / grass mixtures is {mix::grade}, and for grasses the RFV is {grass::grade}.

Individual Productivity Index (IPI)

You must grow a minimum of {min_acres} acres of tame hay to qualify for calculation of an IPI for that year. To calculate your IPI, MASC only uses harvested production adjusted to 15% moisture or appraised production from a claim.

 

 

 

 

 

Deadlines

You must apply for an MASC Contract of Insurance and select Tame Hay Insurance by {deadline}.

Claims

For claim purposes, the total dollar value of all tame hay types are combined as one crop into a tame hay Production Value Guarantee (PVG). Indemnities for Tame Hay Insurance are paid when the total value of harvested production for all eligible tame hay falls below your PVG.

 

Claim & Appeal Procedures

 

Making a Claim

Claims for Tame Hay Insurance are automatically generated, based on the information indicated in your Harvested Production Report (HPR). However, these claims do not account for quality-based issues, such as when your total volume of harvested tame hay surpasses the production guarantee calculated by MASC, yet your hay is of significantly lower quality than MASC's grade guarantee. In these cases, please contact your local MASC Insurance office to initiate a claim for Tame Hay Insurance.

Note: You must notify MASC at least 10 days before any harvested production is fed, sold, or placed in an unmeasurable position, or MASC can deny the claim or calculate the claim in any manner deemed appropriate. In any case, production fed before an adjustment is completed is not adjusted for moisture or relative feed value or visual quality adjustment.

Claim Prodecure

1. Contact your local MASC Insurance office.
2. An MASC adjustor will visit the site, measure all harvested production, and inspect your fields.
3. After evaluating the crop, the adjustor completes an assessment form. Sign the form if you agree with the assessment, which will then be forwarded to Head Office for payment processing. Generally, MASC will issue a cheque within three weeks of finalizing the claim. If you do not agree with the assessment, you should not sign the form.
4. If you are not satisfied with MASC's initial appraisal, MASC will complete a second evaluation. If, after the second assessment, you still do not agree with MASC's appraisal, you have the right to appeal the assessment.

Making an Appeal

If you do not accept MASC's second assessment or you reconsider the decision after signing a claim, you have 7 days to appeal the assessment to the Appeal Tribunal.

For more information, please see Appeals.