Advance Payment rebate
Eligible producers in Saskatchewan’s Livestock Loan Guarantee Program can apply for a portion of the interest paid on their advance to be rebated through the federal Advance Payments Program.
Participants must be members of feeder cattle or bison associations and be eligible for a feeder advance.
LLG members must apply for the APP when the feeder advance is taken through their association.
The member must sign and date the forms for the schedule date to receive maximum interest.
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The member may be eligible for an interest rebate on the first $100,000 of eligible advances.
Interest is rebated at the prime lending rate less 0.25 percent.
When the member pays the loan principal and interest in full, the LLG program will collect the payout information from the association and provide it to the APP.
The APP will rebate eligible interest to the LLG program, which will forward the funds to the appropriate association. The association then distributes the funds to the member.
The eligible advance is calculated by the number of head multiplied by the eligible amount, based on finished or background.
Cow-calf producers can access the full APP through the Canadian Livestock Advance Association. LLG breeder members can take a cash advance on association calves, but will be required to make annual payments before obtaining the advance and obtain a release from the association.
Association cattle, bison and sheep are not eligible if a feeder loan is outstanding on them or if the annual payments have not been made.
For more information, contact a producer association or Saskatchewan Agriculture at 306-933-5301, 306-933-5067 or 306-787-2293.
Alta. Century farms awards
Alberta Century Farm and Ranch Awards were created to recognize families who have continuously owned and actively operated the same land for at least 100 years. Criteria outlining the following requirements has been set to identify these families:
- Clear evidence that demonstrates the kinship ties between the present owner and the founder of the farm, ranch or homestead
- Legal land location description
- Date of homestead or farmland establishment
- Current ownership land title
- The current size of the original homestead or land base must be at least 160 acres.
Applicants should submit a form about four months before the 100-year anniversary date or the family celebration date.
The century family will receive a 14 x 10 inch bronze plaque commemorating the milestone.
For more information, contact the Alberta Century Farm and Ranch Award Program by phoning toll-free 310-0000 and then 780-422-0492 or by writing to 100A-7000 113 Street, Edmonton, Alta., T6H 5T6.
Cargill expansion
WINNIPEG (Reuters) — Cargill Ltd., Canada’s third-largest grain handler, has begun to expand storage and rail capacity at Viking, Alta., to improve the efficiency of rail shipments.
Record-large wheat and canola harvests this year strained the ability of Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway to quickly move crops from country elevators to ports for export.
Cargill’s expansion at Viking will increase crop storage capacity by 10,000 tonnes, and the site will be able to accommodate 100 rail cars at a time, nearly double current capacity.
Cargill’s Viking facility moves most of its grain by rail to export terminals at North Vancouver and Prince Rupert, B.C.
Cargill expects to complete the expansion by February 2015.
Man. food safety program
The Manitoba government is offering a program to help producers adopt on-farm food safety measures.
The Growing Assurance program provides funds for farm practices related to food safety, biosecurity, and plant and animal health.
Producers must have an AccessManitoba client identification number to be eligible.
Financial and technical support is available for producers involved in apiculture, beef, dairy, grains and oilseeds, horticulture, poultry, swine and minor farmed animals such as sheep, goats, elk, bison and rabbits.
For more information, contact Manitoba Agriculture at 204-239-3180 or email MAFRDGF2@gov.mb.ca.
