Thousands of Saskatchewan producers filed hail claims in July after a couple of powerful thunderstorms.

Municipal Hail Insurance CEO Rodney Schoettler says a storm earlier in the month packed quite the punch.

“It kind of hit from Bethune all the way over to Melville, and there was some big hail…a lot of 100 percent losses,” Schoettler said. “And the claim count for our office alone was 1,104, so it was the biggest event of the year and most of that hail fell on July 11.”

Schoettler says another storm on July 22nd made sure to wipe out whatever crop was left after the first storm.

Schoettler adds the worst part about the recent hailstorms is that they seemed to have targeted some of the crops that were doing relatively well.

“The unfortunate part of the hail, it tends to follow moisture, so a lot of the claims we’re getting are in areas where the crops are better than average or at least a good average this year.”

He says there were fewer claims in July compared to the previous five years, but the reported damage is expected to be much higher.

Schoettler says if he had to bet on it, August is going to look very quiet as harvest has started earlier this year than in the past.

(With files from CKRM)