A new five-year agreement between Canada’s Ministers of Agriculture will increase investments in agricultural innovation, competitiveness and market development, says Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, George Webster.
“A stronger focus on innovation and research within this new agreement will enable industry to explore new opportunities for increased competitiveness within the sector,” said Minister Webster. “It will ensure future economic growth for the agriculture sector with strategic investments as well as business risk management initiatives to help protect farmers from severe market volatility.”
The three-billion dollar agreement, Growing Forward 2, was reached at a recent meeting of Canada’s Ministers of Agriculture in Whitehorse, Yukon. The agreement includes the agriculture, agri-food and agric-products sectors.
Highlights of Growing Forward 2 include:
• Complete and effective suite of Business Risk Management (BMR) programs to protect against severe market volatility and disasters.
• 50% increase in cost-shared investments in strategic initiatives (non-BRM) to stimulate innovation, competitiveness and market development.
• Greater flexibility to tailor programs to local needs.
• Increased opportunity to invest in environmental initiatives and on-farm water infrastructure.
• Ongoing support for farmers with a full suite of risk management programs, including improved negative margin coverage and lower program fees in AgriStability.
• Governments will also encourage the development of private sector risk management tools and will continue to monitor and review BRM programming over the term of the agreement.
“Although there are some changes to the AgriStability and AgriInvest programs, we were able to maintain a strong AgriInsurance program,” said Minister Webster.
For further information, see www.gov.pe.ca/growingforward.