Grain Farmers of Ontario is asking the government to improve the programs put in place to help farmers if their businesses are in a loss position because of the pandemic.
GFO is asking the government to fully fund the Risk Management program in Ontario, to restore the AgriStability program to 85 per cent (vs 75 per cent) with no reference margin limits and restore the AgriInvest program from one per cent to five per cent. AgriStability and AgriInvest underwent pull back under the Conservative government in 2012, where both programs saw changes.
“The Canadian government is standing by watching as farms struggle to produce food for Canadians, while the $36 billion President Trump provided to protect the U.S. food supply system is projected to increase to $80 billion in payments this year, ” says Markus Haerle, chair of Grain Farmers of Ontario. “Ontario farmers are not asking for handouts, they are looking for risk management programs to be restored. Stephen Harper’s government de-funded programs that protect the food supply and farmers from depressed prices and Trudeau‘s government can fix this.”
Grain farmers of Ontario have been running a campaign to raise awareness that Canada‘s food supply needs the attention of the Canadian government. As part of its communication strategy, GFO has released several videos and radio ads, some of which have caused negative reaction from its own members. The latest radio and social media spot can be found on the GFO website dedicated to the campaign.
Related: Ontario bumps up RMP a year sooner than planned
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