Art Petkau’s spirits lifted earlier this summer when the Manitoba government unveiled a feed assistance program for producers unable to ship their fed cattle to slaughter because of cramped packing capacity after the United States closed its border to Canadian cattle.
Petkau and his brothers had the impression the program would last at least four months, so they worked the anticipated compensation into the budget for their feedlot near Morden, Man.
“I think everyone in the feeding industry thought the government had recognized the plight of producers and they were doing something about it,” he said.
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federal government proposed several months ago to increase the compensation rate from 80 to 90 per cent and double the maximum payment from $3 million to $6 million
But his spirits sank after learning that the money he can expect from the program, which is designed to help producers cope with the bovine spongiform encephalopathy crisis, will amount to one month of feed assistance instead of four.
The $14.9 million pledged by the province was exhausted faster than anyone expected.
Petkau was shocked that the plans made in anticipation of that support were shattered.
“That was a substantial amount of money and it had a big impact on our operation. Major big.”
The underlying problem was that the province and the Manitoba Cattle Producers Association had estimated only about 40,000 cattle would be eligible for the feed assistance program.
However, the applications that flooded in were for 100,000 head, suggesting that some of the applications were cattle that did not fit the program’s criteria.
Keith Robertson, executive director of the Manitoba Cattle Producers Association, said disappointment has rippled through the feeder side of the cattle industry.
The hope now is that the province can find some other money to make up the shortfall, possibly even from within other assistance programs. As of Oct. 31, there was no sign the province would do that, Robertson said. If money can be found, the MCPA wants an auditing mechanism in place to ensure the support goes to the people for whom it was intended.
“A cynical view would be that the program was set up to fail, but maybe that’s a little too cynical,” said Petkau.
Manitoba Tory agriculture critic Jack Penner said the situation leaves producers in a bind as winter approaches and feed bills mount. He remains critical of the province’s strategy for helping cattle producers, including the lower-interest loan program announced this summer.
Penner is among those who insist the province should implement cash advances, a measure he argues would leave producers better equipped to manage their expenses and their herds through the winter.
