A farmer survey being conducted for Agriculture Canada may lead to a government policy that suggests farmers who do not use existing risk management programs should not be eligible for government support when incomes drop, says the agriculture minister.
Lyle Vanclief said initial results from the $125,000 Angus Reid survey of 2,400 farmers is that producers with farm revenues of less than $50,000 make less use of such programs as crop insurance, Net Income Stabilization Accounts or hedging.
He said it raises the question of whether farmers who do not protect themselves should be eligible for as much government aid in bad times as farmers who try to insure themselves against disaster. In policy circles, tying self-help measures to program eligibility is called cross-compliance.
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“I think there’s going to have to be full consideration of more cross-compliance,” he said.
Vanclief said producers with less than $50,000 in farm revenue may have decided off-farm income is their risk management tool.
“Fine, that’s their decision to make,” he said.
“But if they made that decision and then that $50,000 is affected by something, then I think they have to realize they should have used risk management tools on it as well and not go to the provincial government or the federal government and say, ‘well, that portion of my family income has been affected. Now, someone else has to (help).’ “
