Alberta Index - AGRICULTURE: Farmers to get another C$70 million in interim assistance for disaster years

AGRICULTURE: Farmers to get another C$70 million in interim assistance for disaster years

(AlbertaIndex, March 23) --- Alberta will pay out an additional C$70 million to farmers as supplementary support under the Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization (CAIS) program. This Alberta-only initiative is expected to address ongoing concerns about the effects of back-to-back disasters in agriculture.

“This funding shows Alberta’s continued commitment to help our agricultural producers gain better access to capital when they need it the most,” said George Groeneveld, Minister of Alberta Agriculture and Food. “We've heard our producers continue to express concerns that the CAIS program is still not responsive enough after the disasters affecting our industry.”

Groeneveld said the short-term measure will help supplement the CAIS program until an improved national program can be developed.
        “We know that changes to the CAIS program are coming, but there’s still lots of work to be done to address the current needs of our agriculture industry,” said Groeneveld. “This initiative is a short-term measure that will help supplement the CAIS program until an improved national program can be developed.”
        The initiative, which applies to the 2006 CAIS program year, follows the success of the Alberta Reference Margin Program Pilot, introduced for the 2003 to 2005 program years.
        Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC), the provincial Crown corporation administering CAIS in Alberta, will automatically review all CAIS claims submitted for 2006 year to determine any additional entitlements. The province expects $70 million will be provided to producers as a result of this provincial initiative.
        Producers are encouraged to submit their CAIS Supplementary Information well before the September 30, 2007 deadline to ensure they receive their potential benefits as quickly as possible.
        CAIS is a whole-farm program available to eligible farmers regardless of the commodities they produce.

Did you enjoy this article? Please share it!

Main Menu

Polls

Led by Alberta, real estate prices are tumbling across Canada. How worried should we be?

	Very worried. The collapse of the real estate market will soon lead to other economic problems.
	Concerned, but not worried. Our economy is in good shape without the credit woes of the US.

Would Alberta be better off with a Harper-led majority government?

	Yes. He's pro-oil, pro-growth and pro-business.
	No. He will find new ways to hurt the oil industry to follow on his income trust tax policy.
	Neutral. He doesn't have many new ideas to drastically help or harm Alberta.

Newsletter Signup

Webcasts

		May 27 2008: Simon Fraser University - Dr Anthony Perl (1)

		June 13 2008: University of Calgary - Dr Roberto Aguilera (2)

		June 13 2008: University of Calgary - Dr Roberto Aguilera (1)

		June 6 2008: Alberta Chambers of Commerce - Ken Kobly (1)

All Archived Webcasts...

E-Mail:
First Name:
Last Name: