EDMONTON – The Alberta government spent $74.1 million less in agriculture in 1997-98 than the previous year, says the minister in his annual report.
And while revenues were down, so were expenses, which left the agriculture department $104.5 million to the good, said agriculture minister Ed Stelmach.
A big drop in expenses came from the Farm Income Disaster Program. Money paid to farmers through the program was down $32 million to 87.7 million from $119.7 million the previous year.
Fewer farmers borrowing from the Alberta Financial Services Corp. and lower interest rates accounted for an expenses drop of $18.4 million.
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Another big difference in 1996-97 was a one-time grant of $35 million paid to the Alberta Value Added Corp. to be used as seed money for projects.
The amount of money from the federal government for safety nets was up by $52.2 million.
Crop insurance claims were $19.2 million higher last year, but more people bought the insurance. The department revamped its crop insurance program to entice more producers. As a result there was a 16 percent increase in crop insurance.
The picture won’t look as healthy next year, said Stelmach. With the low price of grain and poor crops across the province, the government anticipates an increase in the amount of money paid out through the farm disaster program.
The program is capped at $200 million and Stelmach expects it will all be spoken for when producers finish their tax returns in the spring for this year’s crop.
