Back-Track Investigations has a great deal of experience in investigating, documenting, and assisting clients with their claim. In our experience, we have a much higher success rate for a settlement when we have been hired to go and document the damages at the time they are most noticeable. This gives us a better opportunity to assess where the damage came from and to do soil and plant samples as this is very time sensitive.
Note: In the 25 years that we have been in business, we have documented hundreds of agricultural complaints and assisted our clients with their claims resulting in many of our clients being compensated for their losses that were previously denied. If our investigation concludes that our client is in a claims position, our investigative fees are claimable and will be added onto your compensation package.
It is common to do a yield comparison of the damaged and undamaged crop at harvest time using a weigh wagon or a local legal scale. This has become extremely beneficial for calculating the difference between the damaged and undamaged crop for preparing an accurate compensation package.
Some of our clients include:
Over the years we have documented a high number of seed complaints; for example, a producer may have purchased seed in two different lot numbers. One was excellent and the other one had very poor germination and vigor leading to a substantial production loss. We have had a number of clients who have purchased seed privately and have also experienced poor germination and vigor. It is very important for producers to always keep the seed tags as well as a sample of the seed.
Over the years, we have documented a high number of chemical complaints where producers have experienced damage to their crops resulting in substantial production loss. These types of chemical complaints are vastly growing due to all the new and generic chemicals on the market and the number of time the fields are being sprayed each year.
Spray drift complaints have increased substantially over the past few years as a result of the number of high clearance sprayers and aerial applicators spraying when the weather is unacceptable. This has caused severe damage to neighbour’s fields, farmyards, gardens, shelter belts and organic farmlands. We would suggest that if a farmer witnesses a neighbour or custom applicator spraying while the weather is unacceptable to document the date, the time and the weather conditions as well as the make of the equipment that is being used. We have many years of experience in dealing with spray drift claims by documenting hundreds of fields, shelter belts, farmyards and organic farms that were damaged.
This type of claim has risen substantially over the last few years due to the negligence of the applicator. These claims are caused by applicators not cleaning out their tanks properly before going to another field. We strongly suggest, to avoid tank contamination to thoroughly clean out your tank and system as recommended by the manufacturer.
We have documented many damaged field over the years where our Investigation concluded that the problem of crop damage/production loss was the result of a residual carry-over of chemicals that were applied to the fields in the past 5 years as well as what type of crops were seeded.
We all know that there are a lot of excellent custom applicators. However there are still a number of claims regarding issues such as wrong fields being sprayed, spray misses, spray drift, failing to put on the recommended water and/or chemical or properly cleaning their tanks before spraying. Another complaint is when the custom applicator has failed to spray in a timely manner as promised resulting in dirty fields and a production loss.
Over the years we have documented thousands of damaged acres as a direct result of equipment failure. During our investigation we found other producers with the same type of equipment who were experiencing identical problems, and because of our investigative reporting the clients was able to be compensated.
We have successfully assisted many producers over the years with their Crop Insurance Appeals. We will investigate the situation, prepare a documented report of our findings, appear with you at the Provincial Crop Insurance Appeal and assist you with your claim.
These situations have been known to cause a lot of damage. On many occasions we have been hired to investigate the cause of the fire, calculate all damages, prepare a compensation package, and assist our client with their claim.
We have documented the damages that were caused by wildlife such as birds, deer, elk and moose. We have prepared a compensation package and assisted our clients with their claim. Some of our clients were unaware that they had damage from wildlife until they began harvesting.
It has become very common for hail adjusters to defer hail damage claims on crops until fall, as they strongly believe that the crop could make a recovery; however, a number of producers have hired us to come out and document their damaged crops in question, which will verify the extent of the damage shortly after the storm.
On occasion we have investigated crop and land damage caused by oil wells or pipelines spills. In these situations the land in question could be damaged for several years from contamination to the land, water sources and contributing to crop loss.
Soil and plant samples are a very important part of the investigation for verifying what could have caused the damage in question.
Very Important to Save Seed Sample, and Tag
Spray Miss Chemical Contamination
Custom Applicator Miss
Issues with Certified Seed
2 Different Lot Numbers Same Chemical
Damaged Crop - Spray Drift
Tank Contamination Issues
Undamaged Crop
Harvest Assessment
2505 Koyl Ave
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
S7L 5X8