A 2018 canola field east of Grande Prairie. Photo Curtis Galbraith

By Curtis Galbraith

Agriculture

Program changes welcomed by local producer

May 3, 2019 | 1:51 PM

One local farmer welcomes changes to the Advance Payments Program announced by the federal government earlier this week.

Woking producer Leo Meyer says this will help those who still have some of last year’s crop on the farm.

“It’s not a new program, it’s just an adjustment to an existing program, including an increase to the overall limit. So, it is similar to the previous cash advance program available for farmers, with those two most significant adjustments. One being the limit going from 400 (thousand dollars) to one million and the second one, changing the interest-free portion of advance, only though for canola in storage, from $100,000 to $500,000.”

Meyer says advances have to be repaid in September and that these changes are for all crops, not just canola.

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He is glad to see that it’s a loan program and not a bailout as it has been called by some.

“It’s an attractive financial program available to those who have inventory and they intend to seed a crop for (the) 2019-20 (crop year). This is what it is supposed to address and I think this is what it is addressing.”

Meyer says the timing is right for such an announcement as it’s the time of year farmers are buying inputs for this year’s crop, so it’s important for the companies that supply those things, making this a program for the overall industry.

When it comes to trade disputes like the current one with China over canola, Meyer points out no one is owed a market.

“Those markets constantly change and many of those governments in those jurisdictions, their first obligation is to their citizens and to the jurisdiction themselves. If China decides not to buy as much canola, then that is in the discretion of China. It doesn’t matter how many people jump up and down, the fact of the matter is we are privileged to have markets going certain directions including China, and if those markets are not there, we need to make adjustments. We need to find other markets.”

Meyer believes some people got complacent when it came to being able to sell things to China.