New Brunswick’s provincial government will help fund farmers’ costs to improve or clear land on their farms to boost its productivity.
The province has set aside $200,000 initially for the new Agri-Land Development Program, which will pay up to 35 per cent of a farmer’s eligible expenses, up to $7,500 per applicant, for land clearing, land consolidation (for example, removing fence lines), land levelling or land forming.
The program is meant to help farmers bring into production land that will support “more sustainable” crop rotations, increase the land base available for crop production, and “increase self-sufficiency” in producing feed crops for livestock.
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Agriculture Minister Ron Ouelette said the program is “an initial component of what should, over time, become a more comprehensive program.”
The program will cover eligible work, equipment, material and engineering costs on land that an applicant either owns or leases or has under an Agricultural Development Board land program. It will not cover such costs as land purchases, leases or legal bills.
If the funding is for uncleared land, a farmer will be asked to provide the provincial ag department with data to back up a claim for the land’s suitability for a specified crop.
The program will run until March 31, 2008.
