By Alice McFarlane

Feds want a decision soon on changes to Agristability from the prairie provinces

Mar 17, 2021 | 2:36 PM

MELFORT, Sask. — Federal, provincial, and territorial ministers will meet again to try and come to some agreement about proposed changes to AgriStability.

Agriculture and Agri-Food minister Marie-Claude Bibeau spoke to stakeholders and media this morning to provide an update on talks.

“It has been just over 110 days since we made the offer to the provinces to improve AgriStability. We are asking for a clear indication from the three prairie provinces whether they will sign on or not,” Bibeau said.

The proposal includes the elimination of the reference margin limit, and boost the compensation rate to 80 per cent.

Calculations provided by the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan showed the changes could mean the difference between a 2,000-acre grain farmer receiving almost $4,000 under the existing program instead of getting almost $75,000 under an updated program.

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Bibeau said a date has not been set for an agriculture ministers meeting but she hoped it would be in the next week.

“To ensure this is a productive meeting and that we can provide much-needed results for farmers, we would prefer to convene only when ministers have a decision in hand,” she said.

The deadline to enroll in AgriStability for this coming year is Apr. 30. Bibeau said any changes need to be approved before the deadline to encourage more farmers to sign up and increase participation in the program.

While grain and oilseed producers are enjoying record high commodity prices the livestock sector would benefit from the program improvements.

Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association (SCA) chair Arnold Balicki said he wants the issue dealt with and settled soon.

He said SCA supports the enhancements and it is time for all sides to work together to push this issue ‘over the finish line’.

“We find it an odd way to move the conversation forward but we’re hopeful this will make it move seeing these proposed changes put in place for Saskatchewan cattle producers,” Balicki said.

Drought is a very real concern for many parts of the province. Balicki said that’s when a program like AgriStability would benefit farmers. All levels of government have said there would be no ad hoc program.

“Then at least have a program that will work, and AgriStability proposals would work,” Balicki said. “If there ever was a year that we needed some form of AgriStability it would be in 2021,” Balicki said.

Pork producers have operated on razor-thin margins and market uncertainty caused by COVID-19.

Canadian Pork Council chair Rick Bergmann said during the last 12 months, pork producers have dealt with extreme price fluctuations including some of the most profound price declines in history, border closures, and processing plant shutdowns.

Bergmann said it’s time to fix AgriStability.

“We understand that the priority of all governments is on COVID-19 vaccination and economic recovery, but we need a consensus on AgriStability as soon as possible,” Bergmann said. “It’s not the time for backyard politics, hog producers across Canada are impacted by inadequate programs.”

Weyburn area farmer Jake Leguee said the discussion on AgriStability has been going on for a long time and needs to be resolved. The current program as it stands did not work for his farm and he opted to use private insurance, he said.

“I realize we need a better program to replace AgriStability between now and then. It would be really nice to get this subject wrapped up so we could move on to other issues. This has taken up an awful lot of time. It’s time to get it done and move on,” Leguee said.

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alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @farmnewsNOW