Although some sectors of the agriculture industry are facing financial difficulties, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Eric Hammill said that overall, total farm cash receipts increased last year in Prince Edward Island by more than five percent to a forecast of more than $284 million. The decline in hog prices was more than offset by increased returns from the potato, beef and dairy sectors.
"The agriculture industry has always had to deal with price fluctuations and market cycles and that is why it is so important that government and industry work closely together to establish affordable and effective safety net programs," said Mr. Hammill. "At the same time, government has a responsibility to respond to drastic drops in prices such as we have experienced in the hog sector by making available disaster insurance programs. This we have done and are doing."
Mr. Hammill said that he is cautiously optimistic about further improvements in total farm cash receipts in the coming year. He noted that potato prices have increased since the beginning of the shipping season, and that will be of some help to producers who have been affected by poor markets since 1996. Potatoes account for upwards of 50 percent of the province's farm cash receipts.
The minister acknowledged that a number of potato operations have been adversely affected by disease problems, but said that existing programs such as crop insurance and the Agriculture Disaster Insurance Program are available to eligible producers. He also said that close cooperation among processors, industry and government in providing for the early delivery to plants of potatoes susceptible to breakdown in storage is helping to avert a disaster for some producers.
Mr. Hammill said that he will be meeting with federal and provincial agriculture ministers later this month to finalize details of a new national farm income disaster program.
"While there is a perception among some people that the agriculture industry is in crisis, the increases in farm cash receipts last year and forecasts of improvement in 1999 would point to a different picture," said Mr. Hammill. "We remain confident about the future of the agrifood industry in this province."