• The Provincial Disaster Assistance Program (PDAP) provides financial assistance to eligible claimants located in a municipality that has been designated eligible for assistance as a result of a substantial loss or damage to uninsurable, essential property, caused by a specific natural disaster, such as flooding, tornados, plow winds and severe weather.  PDAP is a program of last resort.  If any other program (municipal, provincial or federal) provides assistance, then it is not covered under PDAP.
• Municipalities serve as the access point for residents seeking assistance. 
• In order to qualify for assistance under PDAP as an Agricultural Operation, it must meet the small business criteria as follows where the business:
  • Must have gross revenues for tax purposes greater than $4,000 but not more than
    $2 million; and
  • Employs not more than the equivalent of 20 full-time employees.
• Where the Agricultural Operation owns farmland in two or more municipalities, each municipality must be designated eligible and the business must file separate claims in each rural municipality.

Eligibility of Items under an Agricultural Claim

Machinery, Tools, Equipment and Supplies:

• Essential machinery, tools and supplies for carrying on the agricultural enterprise;
• Portable calf shelters;
• Portable feeders;

Erosion (only the 12 most damaged quarter sections of land may receive assistance):

• Erosion to farmland (i.e. washouts, gullies);
• Farm driveways, access roads to bin yards or feed lots (this does not cover trails or shortcuts within the farm);
• Authorized dirt dams or dikes only;
• PDAP does not provide assistance for ruts on farmland caused by machinery.

Livestock:

• Movement of livestock to avoid imminent damage from the disaster or if livestock are moved as they can no longer remain in the same place due to the effects of the disaster.
• Livestock death caused by the event may be eligible if no insurance or coverage is available, either privately or through another program.

Fences and Corrals:

• Free-standing essential corrals and non-decorative fences (must contain livestock);
• Three-sided cattle shelters for loss or damage due to flooding only (loss or damage due to wind is insurable);
• If livestock must be moved, new fencing required to contain the livestock;

Livestock Feed (in storage):

The following general rules will be followed to determine eligibility for PDAP regarding crops in storage:

Crops must be harvested. For hay, this means baled. For other crops, such as grains, this means combined.

Crops must be stored.

• For small square hay bales, this means in stacks;
• For large round or square hay bales, the actual large bale can be considered in storage whether it is where it was dropped from the baler or placed in rows (stacks) on the edge of a field or on high ground;
• For other crops, such as grains, storage means placed in grain bins or in temporary bins (pile within a ring). Grain left in piles on the ground is not eligible under PDAP;
• There often are extenuating circumstances where the disaster affects the ability of the farmer to put the bales into storage. For example, if flooding occurs very shortly after bales are made, or if wet weather persists after bales are made, it may not be possible to access the bales to store them. PDAP will look at these on a case-by-case basis.

Ineligible Costs for Primary Agricultural Enterprises:

• Loss of income;
• Loss of production;
• Loss of inputs: chemicals, fertilizers, additives, seeds; and
• Loss or damage of field shelter belts, except for cleanup in yards (must be a safety issue for humans or animals).

For more information, contact:

The Provincial Disaster Assistance Program at 1-866-632-4033; or
Visit the Ministry of Corrections, Public Safety and Policing website at http://www.cpsp.gov.sk.ca/.