Purpose

Forage Restoration provides a benefit to Manitoba farmers to restore tame forages (excluding sweet clover and coarse hay) and forage seed crops (excluding annual and perennial ryegrass) that are damaged due to excess moisture prior to October 1.

Eligibility

• Established acres of tame forages (excluding sweet clover and coarse hay), tall fescue seed, meadow fescue seed, alfalfa seed, and pedigreed timothy seed are eligible for Forage Restoration if they are insured under AgriInsurance.
• No Forage Restoration payment will be paid if there are less than 10 acres damaged.
• Damaged areas must be in blocks of five or more acres.
• A damaged acre is defined as having less than 75 per cent ground cover of the insured tame species.
• Acres eligible for Forage Establishment Insurance are not also eligible for Forage Restoration.
• March 31 is the last day to apply for, make changes to (add or delete crops and change coverage levels) or to cancel AgriInsurance, and June 30 is the last day to file Seeded Acreage Reports.

Claims

Forage Restoration provides a benefit to restore tame forages (excluding sweet clover and coarse hay) and forage seed crops (excluding annual and perennial ryegrass) that are damaged due to excess moisture prior to October 1.

Claim Deadline: October 1 is the last day to file a Forage Restoration claim without late fees. 

Claim Process: File your Harvested Production Report with forage information and notify MASC that you are in a claim position by October 1.

Once you have registered a claim, an MASC adjustor will visit to inspect the state of your Forage Restoration acres. In all cases, the crop must be inspected before being destroyed or overseeded. After your claim is accepted, it will be processed and payment will be made via your preferred payment method. If you do not want to receive a payment before a specific date (deferred payment) for tax purposes, you should inform the adjustor when completing the claim.

• Forage Restoration claims are calculated on the number of acres damaged by excess moisture, less the five per cent Forage Restoration deductible, multiplied by $130.
• To be eligible for a Forage Restoration claim, the crop must be inspected by MASC prior to the crop being overseeded or destroyed.
• Destruction can occur by herbicide or tillage.
• June 10 is the deadline to destroy Forage Restoration Acreage to qualify for Excess Moisture Insurance.
• Damaged acres must be overseeded or destroyed by June 25 of the following crop year, unless the damaged acres remain continuously too wet to destroy.
• MASC must be notified when the damaged acres have been destroyed or acres have been overseeded.
• If damaged acres are overseeded, the indemnity level is 50 per cent of coverage, with the remaining coverage continuing in force until the earlier of the destruction of the failed overseeded crop or June 25 of the following year.
• The deductible is five per cent of the total number of insured acres for each crop type insured.

Claim Example

An insured producer has 320 acres of eligible Basic Hay, with 80 damaged acres in one block. 65 damaged acres are destroyed by July 16 and 15 acres are left.

• The deductible remains at five per cent, regardless of an insured’s claim history.
• A Forage Restoration payment will reduce the amount of Forage Insurance or forage seed insurance available.
• Forage acres and Forage Seed acres damaged by excess moisture can be harvested but they must be overseeded or destroyed prior to June 25 of the following crop year to receive a payment.
• For those acres to be eligible for Excess Moisture Insurance the next spring, the forage/forage seed crop must be destroyed and ready for seeding by June 10.
• Payment will be issued once the affected acres have been destroyed by chemical or tillage, or overseeded.