Federal agriculture minister Marie-Claude Bibeau announced further details Nov. 14 about compensation for supply-managed sectors affected by the renegotiated North American free trade deal.
This should be the last compensation package for lost market share due to trade agreements.
“Promise made, promise kept,” she said. “I would like to reiterate our government’s commitment not to concede any further market shares under supply management during future trade negotiations.”
The allocation of $1.7 billion in the recent fall economic statement pushes overall spending on compensation for the supply-managed industries to $4.8 billion.
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The most recent package is expected to be paid out as follows:
- Up to $1.2 billion for dairy producers through the Dairy Direct Payment Program.
- Up to $112 million to poultry and egg producers under the Poultry and Egg On-Farm Investment Program.
- Up to $105 million for investments in processing plants in all three sectors under the Supply Management Processing Investment Fund.
- Up to $300 million for a new innovation program for the dairy industry.
According to information from the federal government, a dairy farmer with an average milking herd of 80 cows would receive declining payments based on 2021 production for the next six years beginning with $26,507, or 25 percent in 2024 and ending with $8,835, or eight percent in 2029. Total compensation for that producer would be $106,026.
Dairy Farmers of Canada chair Pierre Lampron said the government made good on its promise to compensate for market access given up during negotiations.
“Today, they can say they fulfilled their promise. We can now look towards the future,” he said in a statement.
The $300-million investment in processing will start in 2023 and is designed for large-scale projects that will add value to solids-non-fat, a byproduct of processing. Solids-non-fat includes all solids other than milk fat, such as protein, carbohydrates and minerals.
Details have not been announced but Michael Barrett, chair of the Dairy Processors Association of Canada, said the new investment, plus the additional funds to the SMPIF, will increase productivity and efficiency.
There are 9,952 dairy farms in Canada, which generated $7.39 billion in total net farm cash receipts in 2021.
The poultry sector is smaller, at 4,773 chicken, turkey, egg and broiler hatching producers. They generated more than $5.5 billion in farm cash receipts last year.
Chicken Farmers of Canada chair Tim Klompmaker said the compensation will contribute to the long-term efficiency and sustainability of 2,800 farmers.
Egg Farmers of Canada represents 1,200 producers. Chair Roger Pelissero said farmers will use the money to embrace green technology and expand the sector to serve the domestic food system.
Poultry and egg producers will receive their compensation based on quota holdings.
The compensation for the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement comes on top of previous programs for market losses due to the trade deals with Europe and the Trans-Pacific region. Producers are receiving their fourth payments from that package this year.
