Cattle and ruminant livestock producers affected by flooding in Manitoba’s Interlake region this year will soon have access to a Targeted Advance Payment (TAP) under the AgriStability program.
Through TAP, approximately 850 eligible producers will have access to more than $7 million in funding. The average advance would be about $8,400.
“The extreme weather conditions this year have created a financial hardship for many livestock producers, particularly those in the Interlake and Westlake regions,” said Manitoba agriculture minister Rosann Wowchuk in a news release.
Producers eligible for the payment must have sales of 50 percent or more in the cattle and other ruminant sector, be located in Interlake rural municipalities and have losses that occurred in the 2008 fiscal period ending after July 31 when most flooding occurred.
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The AgriStability program is designed to help farmers deal with drops in income by providing assistance when their margins fall below average. Ottawa pays 60 percent of the cost of the program and the provincial government pays 40 percent.
But Art Jonasson, a rancher and Manitoba Cattle Producers Association director from Vogar, in the west Interlake, said AgriStability doesn’t appear to work well for cattle producers who have suffered from declining margins since BSE was discovered in Canada in 2003.
Many cash-strapped producers might be reluctant to cash the advance payment cheques because their ability to pay it back is uncertain.
“It is money that is available and it might help some people, but it might not help others,” he said. “Some guys are fairly shy to take an advance payment.”
With feed expensive and in short supply, Jonasson plans to cull hard.
“It’s a good business decision, but it works against you in AgriStability because it reduces your production unit numbers,” he said.
