The Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association says premiums for livestock price insurance should be cost-shared with governments similar to crop insurance.
President Kelcy Elford said the organization has asked that cattle producers be treated the same as other producers, “that the weight of the premiums shouldn’t all be on the producer.”
Currently Livestock Price Insurance premiums are paid entirely by producers and are paid up front. LPI is available in the four western provinces. Prince Edward Island is finalizing its participation in time for the next federal-provincial framework and the other maritime provinces are also working toward joining.
Read Also
U.S. farm group supports supply management
U.S. grassroots farm advocacy group pushing new agriculture legislation that would move towards supply management like Canada has for dairy industry
When the program was being developed there were concerns that cost-shared premiums would be subject to countervail from the United States.
Reg Schellenberg, a Saskatchewan director to the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, said that has been discussed. He said CCA “came to the conclusion that if other risk management programs could be a cost-share with the federal and provincial government, there’s no way that we were concerned that the premiums for the livestock price insurance would be at all countervailable.”
He said American programs are subsidized far more “than anything we’ve ever thought of.”
Ontario and Quebec are not involved in the LPI program but have programs of their own that receive some federal funding.
The program began as a pilot in 2009. Since 2014 in Saskatchewan, it has paid out $17.6 million in the calf program, $7 million in the fed cattle program and $4.7 million for feeder program participants, Saskatchewan agriculture minister David Marit recently said.
Former SSGA president Harold Martens said there would likely be more uptake if premiums were cost-shared.
“It would be a big plus for a lot of producers,” he said.
