By Alice McFarlane

Agriculture Roundup for Friday April 9, 2021

Apr 9, 2021 | 10:04 AM

MELFORT, Sask. — Dairy farmers have responded to the federal government’s compensation package.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said roughly 9,600 dairy farmers registered for the second year of the Dairy Direct Payment Program.

The federal government has made $813 million available to Canada’s dairy producers under the first two years of the $1.75 billion program.

The financial assistance is being provided to supply-managed sectors for market access concessions made under the recent trade deals.

To receive a payment, registrations needed to be signed and received no later than Mar. 31. Remaining payments are being delivered this month.

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A Manitoba producer group is pleased the province will phase out the education portion on property taxes by 50 per cent over the next two years for residential and farm properties.

Owners of residential and farm properties will receive a 25 per cent rebate of the school division special levy payable in 2021.

Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) president Bill Campbell welcomed the news.

He said KAP supports the delivery of high-quality and affordable education for farmers, farm families and rural residents and have advocated for the complete removal of education taxes from all property.

“Farmers pay a disproportionate amount of education property taxes, and the disparity between what farmers are paying and what the average homeowner is paying remains an issue,” Campbell said in a news release. “Until the tax is completely removed, farmers will continue to pay more than their fair share.”

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Alberta’s potato industry has been declared Potato Cyst Nematode (PCN) free.

Canadian Food Inspection Agency placed two Alberta fields under a Notice of Prohibition after routine testing raised suspicion of the presence of PCN. Both fields were restricted from growing potatoes.

After years of restriction and surveillance, other Alberta potato farmers were eventually able to resume export of seed potatoes to the United States in 2009.

The issue had a significant impact on seed potato growers with the federal and provincial governments providing $16 million in assistance to 39 farmers.

PCN is regulated under the province’s Agricultural Pests Act and is a federally quarantined pest.

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alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @farmnewsNOW