The federal Liberals’ platform heading into the Oct. 21 election calls for an “expanded and enhanced” role for Farm Credit Canada in supporting the country’s agriculture and agrifood sectors. Platform documents released Sunday last week (Sept. 29) call for the merger of several existing federal financial and advisory services — which the Liberals said are […] Read more
Liberals pledge revamp of federal farm lender
Ag ministers aim for AgriStability upgrades for 2020
Coming out of their meeting in Quebec City, Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial ministers for agriculture say they plan to meet again before year’s end to see about improving the AgriStability program for 2020. In a statement Friday, the ministers said they discussed “adjustments that could improve existing (business risk management) programs to address the […] Read more
China, drought, debt shake Canadian farm finances
Winnipeg/Ottawa | Reuters — For years, the financial stability of Canadian farmers was the envy of their U.S. counterparts, but rising costs, drought and a dispute with China have weakened their bottom lines. Net incomes plunged last year, and that setback was followed in March by China’s halting purchases of canola, Canada’s biggest crop. Now […] Read more
Timing not yet set on expanded advance payments for canola
MarketsFarm — With no clear end in sight to the dispute between China and Canada over Canadian canola, producers are anxious to know how and when they might access support programs to maintain cash flow. Since plans to help canola growers through expansions to the federal Advance Payments Program (APP) were announced May 1, there […] Read more
APP pumped up, AgriStability deadline extended against China canola ban
The federal Advance Payments Program’s loan limits and interest-free portions will be raised and the deadline for AgriStability enrolment extended in a bid to help Canadian canola growers with cash flow. Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and International Trade Diversification Minister Jim Carr on Wednesday announced the expansions and extensions along with plans to engage other […] Read more
Don’t let the crop insurance deadline pass you by
The signup deadline is April 30
Reading Time: < 1 minute The deadline for crop insurance coverage and AgriStability enrolment is fast approaching. The deadline for signing up for the Spring Price Endorsement is April 30, which is also the last day for enrolling in AgriStability without penalty. The Spring Price Endorsement provides protection on a crop-specific basis from ‘within-year’ price declines for both production-based and […] Read more
B.C. grants late AgriStability enrolment for 2018
Fire, flooding and a drop in raspberry prices in 2018 have spurred the federal and British Columbia governments to trigger the AgriStability late-participation mechanism. Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and her provincial counterpart Lana Popham, at an event Monday in Vernon, B.C., invoked the new late-participation rule for the 2018 AgriStability program year, “to help farmers […] Read more
Beat your cash flow woes with the cash advance program
The only cheaper money is a forgivable loan from the bank of Mom and Dad, says administrator
Reading Time: 4 minutes Not too many hands shoot up when Dave Gallant asks a room full of farmers if they’ve used the federal cash advance program before. “For those who aren’t using the cash advance program, I want you to ask yourselves why you’re not taking advantage of this program,” the Canadian Canola Growers Association official said at […] Read more
Pork producers slammed by tariff war call for government aid
The bottom fell out of the pork market this summer and Alberta producers are suffering huge losses
Reading Time: 4 minutes Canadian pork producers need “immediate help” from government to deal with a price plunge sparked by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff wars with China and Mexico. “What we’re seeing right now is really bad,” said Darcy Fitzgerald, executive director of Alberta Pork. “And a lot of it has to do with what’s going on with […] Read more
Outside panel named for farm risk management review
A panel of 11 “external” experts from across the country has been picked to offer guidance and feedback on a federal/provincial review of farm business risk management (BRM) programming. The panel’s appointment follows an agreement by federal, provincial and territorial agriculture ministers back in July to launch a review of BRM programs, assessing those programs’ […] Read more