Rental rates for Saskatchewan crown cultivated lands are going up this year, but not as much as they could be.
Agriculture minister David Marit said the rates are formula-based and were supposed to go up about 45 percent.
“Through the ministry we can reduce those rates, so we did,” he told reporters.
They will go up an average 22 percent instead.
Saskatchewan Rivers MLA and leader of the newly-formed Saskatchewan United Party Nadine Wilson raised the issue in the legislature March 30, saying a higher rental rate is a tax on farmers.
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federal government proposed several months ago to increase the compensation rate from 80 to 90 per cent and double the maximum payment from $3 million to $6 million
“Mr. Speaker, this government is clearly profiting off of the inflationary crisis,” she said during question period. “They raise rates on farmers to pad their bottom line and say, sorry, it’s due to inflation, while raising their own salary because oh, it’s due to inflation.”
Wilson said the government is “crushing” farmers.
That raised the ire of premier Scott Moe, who said he would take no advice from opposition members when it comes to agriculture.
“It’s this party that talks to farmers each and every day when we go home,” he said. “It’s this party that continues to support our agriculture industry.”
The rates for both cultivated and grazing crown land are set by formula in the provincial lands act regulations.
The province already announced that crown grazing rates would be frozen at the 2022 level, and if drought persists and producers have to pull cattle off early, there would be a maximum 50 percent rate cut for those affected.
The formula for cultivated land reflects the specific crops grown in each of the Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corp. risk zones.
It “calculates total revenue based on a basket of approximately 35 crops using a variety of factors such as percent acreage, 10-year average yields and SCIC price projections for the current year,” according to the ministry.
Because of the financial pressures farmers are facing, the ministry reduced that calculation by 15 percent, resulting in the smaller increase.
