Farmers in many areas have found their fields struck by frost, causing considerable issues for harvest.
The crop insurance claims have now started to be filed in higher numbers as a result of the wheat that has been damaged by the frosts that have struck several parts of the country, and many agents feel that the numbers will continue to climb.
Some agents think that this year will see a higher number of claims of this nature than other years.
North Dakota was especially affected by the recent frosts. While there have been reports of some crop insurance claims that have been coming in over the last couple of weeks, those numbers have now started to pick up. This is making for a very challenging growing year. Snow that continued into April and May delayed the farmers’ planting and even went so far as to stop it altogether, for certain farms.
It is now the cool, wet weather conditions that are causing the crop insurance claims to be made.
This weather will lead many farms to have to delay their harvests even longer and could create a serious quality issue. Among the problems affecting the wheat crops in North Dakota due to the weather problems have been sprouted grains, damage to kernels, and even the production of a chemical called Vomitoxin by the plants, making them poisonous to both humans and livestock when they are eaten in large amounts.
Beyond wet and cool temperatures, hail has also been causing damage in some areas. As a result of this, some farmers are not able to obtain a price that is high enough for the grain that they have been able to harvest. Some may not be able to sell all of their grain, or may not be able to sell any of it, so their claims are being made to replace lost revenue.
While all of the crop insurance claims that have been submitted so far have been filed with quite a bit of wheat that has not yet been harvested. For this reason, many agents feel that there is still a lot of room for more claims to be filed due to the weather that will occur until the time that all of the grain is brought in.