CALGARY – Alberta’s farm income insurance plan has received 538 claims to date but payouts are slow as agriculture officials scrutinize each application.
The Farm Income Stabilization Program is also getting a new name and will be called the Farm Income Disaster Program.
Gordon Herrington of Alberta Agriculture’s policy secretariat said the program’s platform remains the same. Farmers whose total farm incomes have dropped below 70 percent of average are eligible to make a claim. The deadline for this tax year is July 31.
Chris Dyck of Alberta Financial Services in Lacombe, where the program is administered, said $1.8 million has been paid out on 101 claims.
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About two-thirds of the claims were from northeastern Alberta where there has been a prolonged drought for almost a decade. Most claims came from mixed farms. A breakdown by commodity will be available in about three weeks, said Dyck.
There were concerns among some livestock groups that feedlots experiencing heavy losses since 1994 would be the largest claimants. Dyck said only a few have put in claims but that could change drastically in 1997 after feeders calculate their income losses at the end of 1996.
