RED DEER, Alta.- Applications for the arable acres supplementary program should be in Alberta farmers’ mailboxes by Christmas.
The program was developed when the province opted to pass on $50 million of federal safety net money to those acres that weren’t eligible for the Western Grain Transition Payments Program when the Crow transportation subsidy ended last year.
“All cultivated acres used in annual crop or perennial forage production that did not qualify for WGTPP will be eligible,” said Ken Moholitny of Alberta Agriculture.
This affects 8.5 million acres of irrigation, horticulture and forage land, he told the Alberta Forage Council’s annual meeting.
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Applications by Christmas
Moholitny said as soon as the provincial and federal agriculture ministers finalize terms and conditions, applications will be mailed to farmers. Applications must be returned as soon as possible.
Calculations on eligible acreage levels are based on land ownership as of February 1995, the same date used in the Crow subsidy payout plan.
Improved pasture, dryland and irrigated pastures are eligible and will be covered in a three-tiered payment plan. Any acreage which received money under the permanent cover program is not eligible.
The largest share of the money will go to improved pasture which should receive between $3 to $3.50 an acre. Dryland pasture is expected to receive $7 and irrigated pasture should get $9 per acre.
The size of each payment depends on the number of applications received and the number of acres farmers claim.
Crown land is eligible and the province has agreed to pass on two-thirds of the benefit to tenants. In the Special Areas of southeastern Alberta, tenants get five-sixths of the benefit.
Administration costs will be deducted from the total amount but may not exceed two percent.
