Producers in Manitoba’s Interlake, who were unable to plant a crop last spring due to flooding, will receive $15 per unseeded acre from the Manitoba and federal governments.
Manitoba’s agriculture minister, Stan Struthers, and MP James Bezan, who represents the Selkirk-Interlake riding, announced details of the funding April 30.
“This assistance will help north Interlake farmers offset the cost of restoring their cropland to full production in time for spring seeding,” said Bezan.
In total, affected producers will receive more than $2.5 million through AgriRecovery, the disaster assistance component of the federal-provincial business risk management program.
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But farmers in the region were hoping for compensation of $50 or more per unseeded acre to offset financial hardship.
“Guys are going bankrupt in this area…. I just hope they don’t insult us,” said Dave Shott of Arborg, in the April 1 edition of The Western Producer.
The gap between what was expected and what was delivered provoked a strong response from the Keystone Agricultural Producers farm group.
“When you add up the costs, $15 per acre would only cover one pass of the tractor and cultivator across a field,” said Ian Wishart, KAP’s president.
“It’s clear AgriRecovery is not working well for producers. We need adequate programs that respond in a timely manner as producers in the affected areas have experienced a drain on financial and human resources for multiple years.”
The northern half of the Interlake was hit with an exceptional amount of precipitation from July 2008 to June 2009.
The excess moisture hindered the harvest in 2008 and put a halt to seeding in 2009.
An estimated 60 to 70 percent of cropland in the region was left un-seeded in 2009.
