Agriculture and Forestry Minister Eric Hammill said today he is encouraged by progress being made to establish a national income disaster program for farmers facing financial difficulties. "During a conference call with federal and provincial ministers late Thursday, a consensus was being reached on the details, and I am confident these will be finalized in the near future," he said. The program, to be cost-shared with the provinces on a 60-40 basis, will be a whole farm program, directed to need, and is consistent with Canada's international trade commitments.
""Although the new program will not provide funds to producers until the next fiscal year, it will support and enhance the efforts that we in this province are already making to assist producers facing a financial crisis," said Mr. Hammill. "This will provide further assurance to farmers, lenders and suppliers that government support is firmly in place."
Mr. Hammill said that the provincial government has already undertaken a number of initiatives to provide interim support for the agriculture sector, including low interest loans to hog producers, increases in the quality incentive program for hogs, a raise in maximum payments under the Agriculture Disaster Insurance Program and an extension of the eligibility period for applications under the program for all commodities.
"We recognize that these initiatives, while significant, may not be sufficient and we will continue to meet with industry representatives to determine what additional measures may need to be taken to help support our industry," said Mr. Hammill.
The announcement of $900 million from the federal government over the next two years will result in more funds available for disaster relief, and that will enable the provincial government to enhance its contributions to safety net programs, said the Minister. "Our position is that we should be able to increase the Agriculture Disaster Insurance payments, support maximum payments to $100,000 and maintain the current enhanced NISA program," said Mr. Hammill. "Obviously the availability of federal funds for what we are already doing will allow us to strengthen and enhance support to our agriculture industry."
Mr. Hammill said that further details of the federal-provincial program will be announced as soon as they are finalized.