Federal, provincial, and territorial (FPT) ministers of agriculture from across Canada met in Ottawa on Monday to discuss the next agricultural policy framework ahead of their annual meeting in Saskatoon in July, where they hope to sign a new five-year agreement. The ministers, nine of whom attended in-person, spent their morning session discussing want they… Read More
Category: Business Risk Management
The enrolment deadline for the AgriStability program has been extended from April 30, 2022 to June 30, 2022, without penalty, the federal government says. The decision to extend was based on numerous uncertainties farmers are facing, including the recent onset of highly pathogenic avian flu across much of Canada, along with unprecedented pricing challenges and… Read More
The federal government is planning to boost funding for environmental programs through Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in the 2022 budget introduced on April 7. While the budget contains projections of a $52.8 billion deficit and national debt totalling $1.2 trillion at the end of 2022-23, the $452.3 billion spending plan and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s… Read More
Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO) is calling on all parliamentarians to step-up action on current supply chain challenges. Valuable crop inputs, such as fertilizer, are in jeopardy of not reaching farms in time for the busy spring planting season. “Policymakers, farmers, and other stakeholders in the agriculture value chain need to work together to respond… Read More
The federal and Manitoba governments announced further changes to drought assistance programs for livestock producers in the province on Wednesday (March 30). The two levels of government committed a total of $155 million to AgriRecovery drought relief programs for Manitoba producers in August 2021. As RealAgriculture reported, only $32.16 million had been claimed as of… Read More
Manitoba farm groups are reminding cattle and other grazing livestock producers to apply for AgriRecovery drought assistance funds announced last summer by the federal and provincial governments. The province committed $62 million, while the federal government said it would provide up to $93 million, for total AgriRecovery drought support of around $155 million in Manitoba…. Read More
Snowbanks may have made moving feed to cattle a challenge in eastern areas of the Prairies that received plenty of snow this winter, but cattle producers are definitely not complaining about the now-melting drifts as they scratch through an extremely tight feed situation in anticipation of green pastures. As foreseen since the drought last summer,… Read More
Manitoba’s new agriculture minister says helping producers recover from the drought of 2021 and maintaining cross-border movement of feed and the province’s agricultural exports are top priorities as he settles into the minister’s office. Derek Johnson was sworn in as Manitoba’s minister of agriculture last week, as the province’s new premier, Heather Stefanson, appointed her… Read More
AgriStability, the whole farm, business risk management program has been in place for Canadian farmers for 16 years. In that time, it’s been maligned and criticized, and it continues to be subject to an ongoing tug-of-war between federal and provincial politicians. But with a new ag policy framework to be unveiled for 2023, changes to the… Read More
Farmers Edge has announced the creation of DigiAg Risk Management Inc., a subsidiary of Farmers Edge. This new unit will provide farmers across Canada with parametric insurance products, risk transfer solutions, and group benefits, the company says. DigiAg is the sole managing general agency (MGA) with access to proprietary, field-centric datasets coming directly from broadacre… Read More
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has issued mandate letters to his ministers, outlining the Liberal government’s priorities for the session of Parliament that started last month. The letters were made public on Thursday (Dec. 16), 51 days after the cabinet was sworn in, and the second last day of sitting in the House of Commons before… Read More
2021 has been a tough weather year. From prolonged drought and excessive heat, to the flooding witnessed in recent weeks in British Columbia — weather disasters have had a tremendous impact on Canadian farms and agriculture businesses. Erik Davies, from Barefoot Consulting, has spent his career working on disaster recovery and risk management issues. Last month… Read More
Editor’s note: This story and headline were updated after the provincial government published its letter responding to APAS. The Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) and the provincial government are disagreeing publicly over the province linking drought-induced crop insurance payments with its deficit for 2021. The Saskatchewan government reported a projected record $2.7 billion deficit in… Read More
The Canadian Crop Hail Association says despite reduced overall storm activity, more damaging storms resulted in a near-record level of hail insurance payments to farmers in Western Canada in 2021. With harvest wrapped up across the Prairies, the CCHA says payments totalled more than $322 million — the highest level since 2008. Premiums paid by… Read More
Addressing the shortage of workers in agriculture, “everything related to the climate transition,” and preparing for an upcoming meeting with her provincial and territorial counterparts — those are the first three priorities Marie-Claude Bibeau mentions when asked about her to-do list as she returns as Canada’s Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. Following a third consecutive… Read More