Editor’s note: The federal government announced an extension of the application window through the Ministry of Finance on August 31. The deadline to apply to the Canadian Emergency Business Account (CEBA) is Monday, August 31. With just days to go before the application window closes, many in agriculture, including producer groups, are calling on the… Read More
Category: Stability Programs
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… Read More
The impact of COVID-19 on the livestock industry has been severe. There were weeks of packers operating at half to no slaughter capacity, market-ready cattle waiting to get on a truck, and the food service sector being crippled due to closures. One of the measures suggested to help mitigate the financial strain by the cattle… Read More
More than two months after the federal government announced $50 million in emergency funding for provinces that want to offer cattle set-aside programs, the Manitoba government has still not released any information on what the program will look like for beef producers in the province. The cattle set-aside initiatives aim to help cover the costs… Read More
If you’re frustrated by how government support programs are designed or overwhelmed by navigating the paperwork, you’re certainly not alone. The numbers speak for themselves — enrolment in the main suite of federal programs has been dropping steadily for years. A recent letter from the Standing Committee on Agriculture to the Minister of Agriculture and… Read More
The Liberal Member of Parliament who chairs the House of Commons’ agriculture committee has written a letter to his colleague who serves as agriculture minister pointing out the flaws in the government’s business risk management (BRM) programs for agriculture. The agriculture committee has been studying the federal government’s suite of risk management programs, which includes… Read More
In this RealAg LIVE! episode with Mary Robinson, president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA), Mary joins host Shaun Haney to discuss agricultural policy issues including temporary foreign workers, business risk management programs, and engaging with youth and minorities. Check out the video below, or scroll down to read the summary! Tune in Thursday,… Read More
Weeks after the deadline to apply, only a handful of employers have been told they’ll have a grant to hire summer help. Many businesses, including farms, have not received news of approvals, even though jobs could have started as early as May 15. Early in April, and as part of the COVID-19 reaction, the federal… Read More
While farm groups are stressing the urgency of changes to business risk management programs, an important meeting in July that served as a soft deadline and a forum for possible action on the issue has been postponed. The annual meeting of agriculture ministers from across Canada that was slated to be held at Guelph, Ont.,… Read More
By Michael von Massow The Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO) recently launched an advertising campaign to lobby for federal support for grains and oilseeds producers. There has been considerable discussion in social media and other fora regarding financial support for the Canadian agricultural sector. Many groups were disappointed with the size of the federal government… Read More
Canada’s agriculture industry is grappling with the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. From all sides, the economic and human toll is far-reaching and still in a rapid state of flux. What the last few weeks have taught us, however, is that there are critical pinch points in our food supply chains that need to be… Read More
It’s been an eventful start for the new president of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA), as Bob Lowe, a rancher from southern Alberta, was elected to lead the national cattle producer group earlier this month. Lowe, who takes over from David Haywood-Farmer, joined us on RealAg Radio on Rural Radio 147 last week to discuss… Read More
Less than a day after the Federal-Provincial-Territorial (FPT) Ministers of Agriculture had their meeting in Ottawa, farm groups are expressing their frustration with the lack of results from the meeting. Many feel as though the group missed the mark to address key concerns after a lot of producers dealt with a brutal harvest for the… Read More
This week federal, provincial, and territorial (FPT) Ministers of Agriculture met face-to-face for the second time this year. Their goal from the one-day meeting was to improve support for Canadian producers. During the course of the day, a small change to the AgriStability program was announced which is that private insurance won’t be accounted for… Read More
Black swan events have transformed agriculture. From the invention of canola to precision agriculture and the emergence of the African Swine Fever (ASF), these extreme and unpredictable events — both good and bad — continue to shape the industry’s future. Is Canadian agriculture and the agri-food system resilient enough to absorb the potential negative impacts… Read More