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Today Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister Lyle Stewart announced additional measures and adjustments to programming to help address the dry conditions across the province.

鈥淭he hallmark of our government is delivering programming that is flexible and able to meet the needs of producers,鈥� Ritz said. 鈥淭his extension gives producers an additional tool to make the decisions that best suit their individual operations.鈥�

鈥淭he lack of moisture through the spring and so far this growing season has severely reduced the hay and forage crops in many parts of the province,鈥� Stewart said.聽 鈥淏y being flexible with existing programs, we are hoping to help producers source the feed they need for their livestock.鈥�

Through the Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Program, the deadline for seeding crops for greenfeed has been extended from June 30 to July 15. Producers who have Crop Insurance will now be able to seed and insure any cereal greenfeed crop.

If a Crop Insurance customer wants to use their annual crop acres for livestock grazing or for feed they can contact their local Crop Insurance office.

Crop Insurance customers also have coverage should their annual crops suffer from the dry conditions. The producer can register a pre-harvest claim if they do not want to carry the crop through to harvest. If the producer takes their crop to harvest, but it has a reduced yield, they can file a post-harvest claim.聽 Producers concerned about the dry conditions should contact their local Crop Insurance office to review the options available for claims, compensation and the requirements for the options they choose.

The AgriStability Program also provides an option for producers looking to access a portion of their benefit early. Through the interim benefit, producers enrolled in AgriStability can get 50 per cent of their estimated final benefit.

The Ministry of Agriculture continues to examine options for producers dealing with the dry conditions. While the Saskatchewan Pastures Program is at capacity, the Ministry has requested that other organizations consider opening any conservation lands for grazing or salvaging of forage. In addition, the Ministry will now allow sub-leasing of Crown lease land. Crown land lessees with excess grazing or hay resources may now receive permission by contacting their local Agriculture Regional Office.

Producers are also encouraged to access the feed grain and forage listing service as a way to connect buyers and sellers of feed grains, forages and other agricultural-related services through a free listing service www.agriculture.gov.sk.ca/feedforagelisting.