So far this year, AFSC (Agriculture Financial Services Corporation) has had about 51 hail claims in the High River area.

They're expecting more claims with the storm activity seen last week and this past Monday night.

Manager of Business Risk Management Products with AFSC, Daniel Graham, says clients have up to 14 days after a hail event to report the damage and submit a claim.

"When submitting a hail claim clients are asked to provide the date of the storm, the crop type that was damaged, the legal land locations, estimated number of acres that have been damaged and the degree of the damage that had occurred. They're also asked to provide details of the storm like the time, duration, direction, size of hail stones, strength of wind, and the amount of rain that may have accompanied the hail."

He says with an early harvest expected in parts of the Province, some hail assessments may not be complete before the crop is combined.

"If this is the case, producers need to contact their local AFSC branch office and get permission to leave inspection strips on the fields of the damaged insured crops."

Clients can review the inspection strip policies on the AFSC website, or by contacting their local branch office.

Graham says overall, they've had about 3,400 hail claims in Alberta, which is down from the average 3,900 claims for this time of year.

He adds, there's been a sharp increase in the number of hail claims across the Province in the past month, as July and August are typically the times of year with the most hail storms.

 

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