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Crop Insurance, the Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization (CAIS) program, the Advance Payments Program (APP), the National Water Supply Expansion Program and tax deferral designations are in place to provide farmers with assistance this year. Production Insurance (Crop Insurance) Significant improvements have been made to the crop insurance/production insurance program over the last number of years. Today, farmers are insuring more crops and more acres and they are purchasing higher levels of protection than ever before. While the number of insured producers (103,000) has remained about the same over the last five years, the percentage of crop acres insured has increased by almost 26 per cent to about 56 million acres. The new production insurance program covers more commodities and provides a broader range of program choices for producers. A ‘whole-farm’ option for production insurance offers a cost-effective alternative for highly diversified farmers. For more information, producers should contact their provincial crop insurance agency:
Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization The basic premise of the program is the deeper a producer’s loss, the greater the government share of the cost to cover those losses. CAIS will provide affordable protection for margin declines, without the need for an account build-up. This means beginning farmers can access stabilization and disaster coverage at the start of their careers, and the program is also effective in back-to-back disasters. To secure protection, the producer would make a fully refundable deposit, meaning that the producer never loses it. The refundable deposit is not a premium - the producer uses it to help replace lost income and if there is no margin decline, it will be rolled over to secure protection the next year. If a producer chose a different level of coverage the following year, he or she could simply adjust the refundable deposit already on account. To make CAIS even more affordable, governments have included an option that would allow producers to secure their desired risk protection level by depositing only one-third of their required cost-share. This option would be available during the first two years of participation in CAIS and in the two years immediately following a serious margin decline. And remember, this deposit is refunded to the producer when a payment is made. Using a new ‘production margin’ calculation, the new program will be more responsive to the production risks posed by rising input costs. And because the margin will be larger, producers will get more support in a significant downturn. Advance
Payments Program (APP): For more information, contact the program manager toll free at 1-888-346-2511 or the website at www.agr.gc.ca/nmp/app/ National Water Supply Expansion Program: The National Water Supply Expansion Program (NWSEP) is a four-year, $60-million initiative under the APF. The NWSEP supports the Environment element of the APF through the development, enhancement and protection of vital water resources to help address water constraints in agricultural areas of Canada. A national program, the NWSEP will focus on assisting Canadian producers to develop and enhance long-term agricultural water supplies. The following information provides a brief outline of eligible applicants, the three tiers of eligible projects with examples of each, program assistance and partner responsibilities, and application deadlines and procedures. Please click on the province-specific information presented below for more detailed information on the NWSEP in your province. Tax
Deferral Program: (Prescribed Drought Region) The deferral allows eligible farmers to defer income tax on the sale of breeding livestock for one year to replenish breeding stock in the following year. In the case of consecutive years of drought designation, producers may defer sales income to the first year in which the area is no longer designated. Eligible farmers will be able to request this deferral when filing their income tax returns. For more information, contact a local Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) office. |
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