Despite recent changes announced to the Agricultural Income Disaster Assistance program, AIDA continues to be its own disaster on the Prairies.
Farmers in southwestern Manitoba hurt by flooding this spring are finding their chances of receiving an interim 1999 AIDA payment scuttled by provincial money they received this spring.
And some are angry that the province is refusing to participate in the $170 million top-up recently announced by the federal government.
“We’re into politics here, aren’t we?” said Murray Downing of Reston, Man., one farmer who has been trying to navigate the AIDA maze during the past few weeks.
Read Also
Feds promise urgency to address canola tariffs
With Canadian canola growers under new price pressure, federal and Saskatchewan government and industry officials have met to discuss next steps in dealing with China’s canola trade barriers.
Downing said lack of agreement between the two levels of government is like two doctors arguing over who should help a dying patient.
In his case, the patient is the 2,230 acre family grain farm he runs with wife Linda.
This spring, Downing wasn’t able to seed 960 acres because of flooding. Wet weather hurt yields and quality on the rest of his land.
For 1999, Downing projects his farm will lose $46,000.
That’s before he takes into account expenses like land rent, mortgage payments, machinery payments, interest, property taxes and living expenses for his family.
Downing triggered a $15,456 AIDA payment under the original rules, but will receive more under the new rules that allow for negative margins and a different way to calculate his farm’s reference margin.
If both levels of government participate in the program, he will trigger an AIDA payment of $65,606.
But without the provincial government’s help, he calculates he will receive $45,546.
No matter what happens, Downing won’t be able to collect an interim payment that would help pay some of his farm’s outstanding bills.
That’s because the interim payment for 1999 still uses the old AIDA rules from 1998.
Under that calculation, Downing doesn’t qualify because of a provincial government flood aid payment of $47,850 he received this spring.
Confusing? Downing thinks so.
The top-up will help him cover some unpaid bills. But in the meantime, it’s hard to assure creditors he has money coming when it requires such a convoluted explanation.
“They’re going to say, ‘How come you can’t be more accurate?'”
After paying bills and buying some inputs for spring, the Downings won’t have anything left for living expenses.
“We’ve got to live between now and next fall too, you know,” he said.
Accountants in western Manitoba say Downing is not alone.
Mel Hume, who works with Meyers Norris Penny in Brandon, said the top-up changes and the continually changing inventory values make it hard for farmers to determine whether they qualify for an interim AIDA payment.
“It really causes more confusion than ever,” said Hume.
The application forms for the full 1999 AIDA payment won’t be available until February.
Farmers who couldn’t plant because of flooding in 1999 have less chance of qualifying for AIDA this year, said Karen Duthie, a certified general accountant with the firm Grant Kirkup and Assoc. in Souris, Man.
Half of the $50 per acre provincial flooding payment counts for income when farmers are calculating their gross margins.
The other half is deducted from their AIDA payment, should they trigger one, she explained.
