INNISFAIL – The Town of Innisfail is fully backing the mission of the area’s hail-battered Jungle Farm to lobby the Alberta government to include specialty horticulture products, such as strawberries and vegetables, in the province’s crop insurance program.
“The Jungle Farm is a great community partner and even though it’s not in Innisfail the agricultural community is very important to us. Farms diversify like The Jungle Farm has, and they have specialty crops. I was unaware that (provincial) insurance was not available,” said Innisfail mayor Jean Barclay, whose motion at town council on Aug. 9 to write a letter of support for The Jungle Farm’s mission was unanimously passed.
Barclay added it was important for the Town of Innisfail to advocate to the province as there are other farm operations in the area who also need the same support.
“This is advocating for specialty crops to be included in insurance programs. It's not necessarily specific just to The Jungle Farm but whoever is unable to get insurance, and I think it's an important topic,” said Barclay. “The more awareness there is around these issues, hopefully more changes can be made going forward.”
And Alberta’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Rural Economic Development has pledged to look into the feasibility of new insurance options to help farm operations with specialty crops, which are currently ineligible for straight hail coverage under the Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC), a provincial Crown corporation.
“Alberta Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Economic Development is aware that producers of horticulture crops like strawberries have experienced weather-related crop losses this growing season. AFSC currently offers hail insurance and other business risk management options for market gardens,” said Mackenzie Blyth, press secretary to Nate Horner, Alberta's minister of agriculture, forestry and rural economic development.
“Alberta’s government and AFSC are looking into the feasibility of insurance options for new entrants to the industry and alternative business model operations including smaller farms and Market Gardens to explore coverage needs beyond what is currently offered.”
Twice this summer – July 8 and Aug. 1 – hail storms devastated the Innisfail area, including The Jungle Farm, which has served the Innisfail and area for the past 125 years. The farm, located 10 kilometres north of Innisfail, includes 20 acres for strawberries, a huge tourist attraction since 1997, and another 15 for vegetables.
The July 8 storm took out 95 per cent of the farm’s summer strawberries. On Aug. 1 two storms rolled in, with the first battering The Jungle Farm with huge near-record sized hail while the second two hours later destroyed the farm’s fall bearing strawberries, as well as most vegetables.
To make matters even worse, the hail devastation has also cost several seasonal and summer jobs at The Jungle Farm.
“I don't want to make it sound like it's nothing but then there potentially could be a few crops that come,” said Leona Staples, co-owner of The Jungle Farm. “But they’re small pieces of what we are. The majority of what we are is gone.”
With no eligible AFSC coverage to depend on Staples said private insurance was not an option either.
“It’s very cost prohibitive,” said Staples.
Since the Aug. 1 storm, Staples has been busy lobbying the provincial government and seeking public support to have provincial crop insurance rules changed to have strawberries added to the crop insurance list and move towards a more secure risk mitigation program.
However, she’s aware that change can only come if there is the political will to make it happen.
“I'm very optimistic our minister of agriculture heard my message. I am very optimistic that what he committed to will happen, which is that we will get to sit down with AFSC,” said Staples. “We actually have AFSC coming to our farm later this month as a corporate entity to our farm and to better understand.
“I am very hopeful that this isn't lost and dies on the table,” she added. “And I believe politicians value local food, food security, and food sustainability.”
In the meantime, Staples is grateful for all the public and political support she and her family have received since the second punishing hail storm on Aug. 1.
“The Town of Innisfail recognizes we've made a difference in our community, that we bring thousands of tourists into Innisfail to buy food, groceries, and to pay for gas from all over Alberta,” said Staples. “I get people who come in their cars who are hugging me and crying with me. It’s a grief process we need to go through. It's a huge loss to us.
“But it's more than me that's grieving. It makes me feel like we've made a difference,” she added. “And that's my purpose for being here on this earth is to connect agriculture to the public.”
