When federal and provincial agriculture ministers next meet in October or November, they will have before them proposals for two significant changes in Canadian farm programming.
Officials have been instructed to tell ministers how they can expand production insurance to include livestock and some horticulture products, a move Manitoba minister Rosann Wowchuk says is “absolutely crucial” if the present stabilization system is to work better.
They will also present the outline of a new agricultural disaster program designed to take strain off the Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization plan.
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The separate disaster program was promised by the Conservatives in the last election campaign and endorsed by provincial ministers when they met June 26-27.
“Currently, disasters are addressed in the CAIS and other ad hoc programs that are not predictable and slow to respond to farmers,” federal agriculture minister Chuck Strahl told a June 27 news conference. “This new and separate program will have dedicated funds and defined parameters to give producers predictable support more quickly than existing programs. Our officials will present us in the fall with a framework for this new approach.”
It was one of a number of decisions made at the ministers’ meeting aimed at reforming the existing “foundation” safety net programs and changing them enough that Strahl will be able to claim he has fulfilled a campaign promise to replace CAIS.
Provincial ministers also endorsed the federal announcement that CAIS will be amended to broaden negative margin coverage, allowing producers to be compensated for negative margins for two of the past five years as long as at least three of the past five years had produced a profit. Ottawa expects that change would add $50 million annually to CAIS payments.
Ministers also agreed last week to increase use of electronic filing and file tracking for CAIS applications, as well as simplified forms and a reduction in required information to allow faster and more predictable payouts under CAIS.
