Photo by Curtis Galbraith

By Curtis Galbraith

Agriculture

Farm groups disappointed in federal announcement

May 6, 2020 | 1:45 PM

Alberta farm groups are not happy with a federal government announcement of $252-million for the agriculture industry.

The money is meant to do things like buy food before it spoils and give it to food banks, supporting physical distancing and buying protective equipment for people who work in processing plants, money for cattle and pig producers who have livestock that is ready for market that they can’t sell, and a credit program for dairy farmers.

Alberta Beef Producers says while it appreciates the support and the acknowledgment from the federal government of the impacts the pandemic is having, the group says in a release it is extremely disappointed that it “does not come close to meeting the needs of beef and cattle producers,” adding more is needed right away.

ABP adds $50-million dollars out of $125-million in disaster relief funding is going to a set aside program for the beef industry. The plan is to have the federal and provincial governments fund this on a 60-40 basis. But it is not yet known what the provincial government might kick in.

ABP says it does appreciate the help to keep plant workers safe.

The Alberta Wheat Commission and Alberta Barley say in a joint release they are disappointed that long-standing issues like trade and Business Risk Management Programs that they call “ineffective” were not addressed, adding this is compounded by farmers still recovering from 2019’s “harvest from hell”.

They add the $252-million does nothing for the long- and short-term issues faced by grain farmers.

“Before the pandemic hit, grain farmers’ viability was already seriously threatened by trade uncertainty and extremely difficult harvest conditions of the 2019 crop, all without the support of an effective risk management program. Now we are seeing a significant federal investment directed only at short-term solutions, and none of which will support the issues grain farmers were already facing,” says Alberta Wheat Commission Chair Todd Hames in a release.

“Grain farmers not asking for band-aid solutions. We need programs that allow us to withstand major shocks to our incomes and ongoing risks beyond our control including trade, weather and global pandemics without having to resort to ad-hoc solutions,” added Alberta Barley Chair Dave Bishop in that same release.

The two groups want to see improvements to AgriStability programs, something they and other groups have wanted for some time. The release says that would include the removal of reference margin limits and a return to 85 per cent AgriStability coverage.

Grain Growers of Canada says it is also disappointed, also saying it does not address long term issues.

“While we recognize the urgent challenges faced by other commodities, (Tuesday’s) announcement does nothing for grain farmers. This relief package offers no resolution to our existing issues, which result from long-standing market access challenges, rail blockades, and 2019’s harvest from hell,” says Grain Growers Chair Jeff Nielsen in a news release from GGC.

Grain Growers says it has been asking for over a year that more money go into AgriStability, saying this would “allow the program to cover losses starting at 85 per cent of historical reference margins and eliminate of the Reference Margin Limit while encouraging farmers to retroactively enroll for 2019-20.”

Trudeau has said the $252-million was a starting point.

– with files from The Canadian Press