2006 buget

[Jagfarms]

CTV news
"$1.5 billion more than what the previous Liberal government promised this year for agriculture."

CBC News
"An additional $2 billion over two years has been allocated to the farm sector, including $1.5 billion this year broken down as follows: $500 million for farm support, and a one-time amount of $1 billion "to assist farmers in the transition to more effective programming for farm income stabilization and disaster relief"

[wd9]

From the budget speech: http://www.fin.gc.ca/budget06/bp/bpc3be.htm#farm

Improving Farm Support Programs

Our farmers feed Canadians and the world, and in doing so provide a strong economic foundation for our rural communities. Over the past years, Canadian farmers have shown their continued resilience in facing challenges such as animal disease, bad weather and difficult market conditions, which have impaired their ability to make a decent livelihood from agriculture. In support of our farmers and farming communities, one of this government’s first actions in February 2006 was to disburse, on an accelerated basis, payments under the $755-million Grains and Oilseeds Payment Program.

This government has committed to provide an additional $500 million per year for farm support and to work with farmers and other partners towards securing a more prosperous future for this sector. This budget delivers on the commitment to new funding, but goes further and announces an additional one-time investment of $1 billion in 2006–07 to assist farmers in the transition to new programming.

The Government has committed to replace the Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization (CAIS) program with more effective programming for farm income stabilization and disaster relief. The Government is consulting with producers and the provinces and territories to replace CAIS with new programming cost-shared on a 60:40 basis between the federal and provincial-territorial governments. In an immediate move towards more effective programming, the Government will provide one-time funding to shift the inventory valuation method under CAIS to make the program more responsive, and put in place deeper loss coverage, cost-shared with provinces and territories. In support of improved disaster coverage, the Government will also implement a Cover Crop Protection Program to help farmers deal with the damage caused by flooding of their fields.

In support of the future competitiveness and prosperity of the industry, the Government will invest in ongoing measures, including the enhancement of cash advance programming, new investments in biomass science and funding in support of a biofuels strategy, and new programming to support the agri-food industry in developing new market opportunities. In recognition of their unique challenge, the Government will also put in place measures to help low-income farm families.

In total, Budget 2006 provides an incremental $1.5 billion for the farm sector in the current fiscal year.

[wd9]

Has anyone heard how it is being distributed??

[wd9]

Like has always been, those who farm the programs get the money. Those who farm the land and make good business decisions and manage risk, get nothing.

Those with good crops and a high '00 to '04 NES get the bulk of the money, like last time. It is the Canadian way.

[caseman]

Where did you get this info about the money being paid out on eligle net sales?

Is this going to be another Grain and Oilseeds payment program? (GOPP)

[wd9]

Caseman, you kinda missed the point. There never is a fair distribution of the money, there never will be in everyone's eyes.

The irony is payments of any kind increase the cost of everything thereby increasing the risk and decrease the margin - counter to what the program was intended to do in the first place.

Seems there is 2 camps. Those who want government support and those who want it treated like a business. Wonder which is bigger?

[caseman]

I was just wondering where you got the info.

I would rather be paid a decent price for the bushels I grow rather than wait for gov. handouts.

[Vader]

caseman - then you (and all the rest of us) have to grow less

[wd9]

If you got twice as much for your grain, which would make your expenses go up twice as much or more, would you be better off?

[Vader]

yes, assuming that you are not in a deficit position now. But your expenses would not double.