DAMAGE TO CROPS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21702, 18 January 1934, Page 6

DAMAGE TO CROPS

NEED FOR INSURANCE

CANTERBURY HAILSTORM

PRACTICE IN OTHER LANDS

The question of the insurance of crops against damage by hail in Canterbury was discussed by Mr. R. McGillivray, fields superintendent, for the Department of Agriculture, in an interview with a representative of the Christchurch Press the other day. Farming was subject to certain risks beyond the control of those engaged in it, said Mr. McGillivray, and the farmers in New Zealand, and the wheat growers in Canterbury in particular, should realise that and take steps to protect themselves against unforeseen losses. The practice of insuring grain against hail damage had been a recognised custom in Western Canada for many years, and the same practice could be applied to New Zealand.

In certain districts of Canada, Mr. McGillivray said, he had seen the effect of hailstorms. When it hailed there it was not a case of damage to crops—the crops were completely destroyed and what remained was absolutely useless. He had seen instances where one foot could be placed in splendid grain while the other was standing on two or three inches of hail, and if it had not been for the insurance scheme in use one farmer would have been completely ruined while the man next to him escaped loss. Levy on Grain Produced The insurance of crops was easily worked, Mr. McGillivray continued. A small levy could be made on every bag of grain produced, and a fund would toori be built up. If a farmer had his crops ruined he was reimbursed in much the same way as a property owner was paid for fire insurance. He did not get the full value of. the crop, but he received enough to live on; the insurance provided a safe "cover." Such insurance did not cost the individual farmer much, and if his crops escaped damage for 20 years it was so much the better for him.

Payment of insurance was assessed according to the production of the district damaged. The average production of each district was known and that provided a basis for insurance assessment. If the crops in that district wore below the"" average in the year during which the damage occurred the insurance cover would be lowered accordingly. Insurance against frost damage was not undertaken in Canada as far as he knew, Mr. McGillivray said. He had seen crops receive a certain amount of damage by frost in some of the horthern districts, but frost damage was not considered of sufficient importance to warrant insurance. Practice in: Australia The insurance of crops against damage has long been practised in Australia, where crops .are frequently insured from the time of sowing to the time the grain is sold. Frost damage protection is not required there, but the Australian wheat grower always runs a certain amount of risk from drought and fire, and these risks are guarded against by an insurance system. Some farmers in Canterbury might insure their crops, ( Mr. McGillivray said, but the practice was comparatively rare, whereas the non-insurance bv business men in the towns" or" the cities was th£ exception. He did not suggest that the farmer should be left to insure if he thought fit or not, but that a general scheme of insurance by means of a levy on the grain produced should be adopted. '