Sid Wilkinson’s voice drips with anger while talking about the programs created in Manitoba to help cattle producers withstand the bovine spongiform encephalopathy crisis.
The provincial government says its support to producers has been substantial. Wilkinson argues the numbers put out by the province are a lot of smoke and mirrors, intended to give city residents the impression producers are getting ample support.
The cow-calf producer at Ridgeville, Man., qualified for a $50,000 loan from the Manitoba Agricultural Credit Corp., a repayable loan that comes with a reduced interest rate. He also applied under the feeder program announced this summer, that would see him paid $2 a day for each animal being fed for slaughter. As of Oct. 10, he had not been approved under that program.
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“The province is doing a hell of a job making everyone believe they’re helping us, but they’re not.”
Wilkinson is among those wishing an interest-free cash advance had been among the programs announced by the province. He said it would have given producers greater flexibility when deciding when to market their cattle. Many are holding their calves back, hoping the United States border will reopen early in the new year to cattle under 30 months of age.
“If things don’t open up then, I think we’re in trouble,” Wilkinson said.
Barry Todd, assistant deputy minister of agriculture, said last week that support to producers is significant and the money is flowing quickly.
As of Oct. 2, said Todd, the province had paid out $12 million under the federal-provincial BSE recovery program, which underwent some changes this summer, but was generally intended to help producers having difficulty moving fed cattle to slaughter at reasonable prices.
“By and large, the money is flowing relatively quickly in response to the need out there. There have been pretty significant dollar amounts going out to producers over the last several weeks,” Todd said.
Among other things, the province this summer allocated $12 million for a new drought assistance program to help producers offset feed transportation costs and $10 million was announced to extend the slaughter component of the BSE recovery program. The province also signed onto the agricultural policy framework, which will see it commit $43 million over three years to support the transition from existing risk management programs to the new ones, although that money is not devoted exclusively to livestock producers.
Manitoba Tory agriculture critic Jack Penner said that while the province leaves the impression that it is prepared to commit $100 million in assistance to cattle producers, only about $20 million paid out so far has been new money. And he said the numbers he has unearthed from the Treasury Board show the province has not paid out as much as it reports.
He also charges that the low-interest recovery loan program is designed in a way that erodes producer control of their operations, shifting that control to the credit corporation.
Few farmers have participated in that program, he said, illustrating their disenchantment.
As of Oct. 10, 463 applications had been approved for a total of $17.7 million under the low-interest loan program, according to government sources. A total of $100 million is available under that program, established to help affected producers manage cash flow challenges by offering loans of up to $50,000.
