SASKATOON – Nearly half of the $300 million Crow adjustment fund will go to pay for construction and maintenance of rural roads.
Federal agriculture minister Ralph Goodale told farm leaders last week in Winnipeg that while many details remain to be worked out, the government has decided roughly how the money will be spent.
- $100 million will be used to compensate farmers in the eastern Prairies for additional freight costs resulting from the end of seaway pooling.
- $40 million will go to the dehydrating industry to help it adjust to the loss of its freight subsidy.
- Up to $20 million will be used to administer the payment of the $1.6 billion Crow Benefit grain transport subsidy.
- Most of what’s left – probably $140 to $150 million – will be spent on maintaining the rural infrastructure, mainly building and maintaining roads.
Read Also
Agri-business and farms front and centre for Alberta’s Open Farm Days
Open Farm Days continues to enjoy success in its 14th year running, as Alberta farms and agri-businesses were showcased to increase awareness on how food gets to the dinner plate.
A small amount of money may also be set aside to address unforeseen issues that may arise. There will be no money for forage growers and no direct compensation for farmers affected by branch line abandonment.
A long list of farm and grain industry groups has been asking for a piece of the $300 million Crow fund. Just last week the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association told a Commons committee some of the money should go to livestock producers with forage acres.
But participants interviewed after the May 29 meeting with Goodale said the allocation seems fair and reasonable.
“There will always be groups lobbying for more of that money to be directed to them,” said Les Jacobson, president of Keystone Agricultural Producers in Manitoba. “If they had $3 billion, there would still be enough uses they could find for it.”
Sinclair Harrison, president of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities, said the roughly $150 million for rural roads represents “a good start.” The money will be made available over five or six years, although exactly how it will be spent hasn’t been discussed.
Payment over three years
The pooling money will likely be paid in three instalments of $40 million the first year and $30 million in each of the next two. Jacobson said farmers will likely receive a cheque at the end of the 1995-96 crop year based on their shipments of Canadian Wheat Board grains. The mechanism for payments after that remains to be determined.
Farm leaders also were told application forms for a share of the $1.6 billion Crow Benefit payment will be sent next month to about 400,000 owners of prairie farmland.
Landowners will have to indicate their eligible acreage, describe any special characteristics such as irrigation, and return them by Sept. 15 to the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration. Only then will it be known exactly how much money each owner will receive, although PFRA director Harry Hill said a fairly accurate estimate should be available when forms are sent out.
Tenants will have one month from the time the application is returned to indicate if they have been unable to reach agreement with their landlord on how to share the payment. Those payments will be delayed while the dispute goes to mediation or arbitration paid for by the two parties.
