Contrary to some news reports, the budget for the Department of Agriculture has been increased by almost $2 million over that proposed last year by the previous administration. The budget figures were clarified today by Agriculture Minister Neil LeClair in a statement to the Legislature.
“Last year on coming to power, we immediately recognized a number of outstanding issues that needed to be addressed,” said Mr. LeClair. “Throughout the past fiscal year, the budget for the Department of Agriculture was increased by $11.5 million, which is 43 percent higher than that proposed by the previous administration.”
Mr. LeClair said that the proposed budget for the coming fiscal year is also close to $2 million higher than that proposed by the previous administration in last year’s budget.
Mr. LeClair said that in demand-driven programs such as safety net and other support programs, it is difficult to precisely forecast the financial needs of producers.
“We were there for producers in the past year,” he said. “And we will continue to be there for producers in the coming years.”