Federal agriculture minister says a new multi-year agriculture policy framework is a priority for the Liberal government
OTTAWA — The Canadian Federation of Agriculture wants the cuts that were made to business risk management programs under Growing Forward 2 reversed in the next five-year agreement.
The board last week approved recommendations from a working group that spent the last year examining what the next agricultural policy framework should look like.
Growing Forward 2 expires March 31, 2018.
CFA president Ron Bonnett said talks are not yet at the ministerial level, but agriculture minister Lawrence MacAulay knows farmers want to be consulted as GF3 is developed.
Read Also
Ag In Motion 2025 site hub of activity
day before Ag in Motion preview.
MacAulay told the meeting a new agreement is among his priorities.
“We will shape a new multi-year agricultural policy framework for Canada,” he said.
“We will develop this framework in close consultation with provinces and stakeholders, including the CFA.”
Bonnett said he expects the framework will be tweaked to include market development and climate change initiatives, given MacAulay’s mandate letter from prime minister Justin Trudeau. He said everyone appreciates the predictability that the programs provide, whether they use them or not.
Program use is down after a period of strong commodity prices.
“The whole concept of five-year agreements, I think that’s gained fairly widespread acceptance, and the fact it’s a heck of a lot better than having 10,000 farmers with tractors on the Hill every time there’s a crisis,” Bonnett said.
Jason Bent of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture chaired the working group’s business risk management committee.
Declining participation in AgriStability has been a concern for some time.
“Diversified farms are not well served by this whole farm program,” he said. “Although government officials are quick to point out program data are not available yet to conduct the analysis, the fact is CFA members know cuts to GF2 have undermined the effectiveness of AgriStability and AgriInvest. Many farmers have lost faith in the programs and don’t feel they adequately respond to income volatility.”
The committee refreshed its business risk management policy to request programs that encourage beginning farmer participation, support diversified operations, minimize complexity and deal with longer-term income declines.
“We are calling for the removal of the reference margin limitation calculation that’s implemented under GF2 and restoring the payment trigger to 85 percent instead of 70 percent,” Bent said.
Participation fees for beginning farmers should be waived, he said.
CFA wants the 1.5 percent of allowable net sales contribution level to AgriInvest restored and the annual contribution limit set at $100,000. There should be a kick start for new accounts and a focus on proactive investment.
More than 40 percent of BRM funding goes to AgriInsurance, and Bent said recommendations include developing multi-year coverage for times when more than one cropping year is lost because of flooding, for example, and premium credits for beginning farmers.
He said farmers have had different experiences across the country with AgriRecovery, and the CFA is asking for clearer assessment rules, consistent implementation and multi-year cost recovery.
The CFA also recommended higher lending limits for the Advance Payment Program and the Commodity Agricultural Loans Act.
Bent said there is a role for private sector risk management tools, but they should be complementary to, rather than a substitute for, government programs.
