Speaking Notes for the Minister
Check Against Delivery
Minister Strahl announces $50 million in spring flood assistance funding through the new Cover Crop Protection Program
St. Adolphe, Manitoba
May 23, 2006
Introduction
- Thank-you, Trevor.
- Greetings.
- Big thanks to Roland Pfitzner for letting us borrow his farm this afternoon.
- Mr. Pfitzner is wonderful example of good hard-working Canadian farmers, who are putting food on the tables of Canadians in towns and cities across this country.
- He came to Canada 28 years ago from the Bavarian region of Germany and has built a successful grain and oilseed farm here in Manitoba.
- But he is also a good example of the need for Government assistance when disaster strikes.
- Mr. Pfitzner has 3,000 acres (1,200 hectares) of soybeans, wheat and barley and nearly all of it was affected by flooding this spring.
- Last year, he seeded all of his land but those heavy rains we had here completely drowned about 600 acres and significantly reduced yields on the rest.
Announcement
- Today I am announcing that Canadian farmers like Mr. Pfitzner will be getting relief from losses and damage caused by spring flooding this year and last - thanks to $50 million committed to fund the new Cover Crop Protection program.
- This follows through on the commitment we made in the Budget earlier this month to increase money to farmers in the agriculture industry by $1.5 billion this fiscal year.
- The money I'm announcing today is just the beginning - a short-term fix that we're making available now.
- Farmers need long-term solutions to protect against future flooding threats.
- This is an important step in the right direction.
How it works
- Most of those benefiting from this program are here in Manitoba and in Saskatchewan, but this is a national program and open to moisture-affected producers right across the country.
- Farmers who were unable to seed more than 10 acres either in the spring last year or this year because of excessive field moisture can receive a one-time payment of $15 per acre.
- This funding will help farmers and will help our environment, by providing the means to help restore and protect flood-damaged soil until a commercial crop can be planted.
Other Initiatives
- This kind of program is another indication of this Government's willingness to listen to the concerns of our farmers and to act on them.
- As I said a few minutes ago, we committed an additional $1.5 billion to our agriculture industry this fiscal year in the May 2 Budget.
- I announced last week in Ottawa that we are changing the inventory valuation method under CAIS, to put needed assistance into farmer's pockets, for which we have committed $900 million.
- We also announced that we are expanding the eligibility criteria for negative margin coverage to better cover viable farms with deep losses.
- This will provide another $50 million to farmers.
- These changes come on top of the decision announced earlier this year to get rid of the deposit requirement for CAIS participation and replacing it with a much more affordable participation fee.
- In those provinces where the Government of Canada delivers CAIS - including here in Manitoba - we are deferring collection of CAIS overpayments until we've sorted out how much more money each farmer is eligible to receive as a result of our changes.
- It just makes good sense and good business sense to not give with one hand and to take with another. There's enough paperwork out there. We don't need to be creating anymore.
- As well as the CAIS changes, I also announced some amendments last week to the Agricultural Marketing Programs Act (AMPA) and an interim Enhanced Spring Credit Advance Program (ESCAP) that will help producers who need cash for spring seeding.
- Under ESCAP, we're doubling the interest-free loan maximum for spring credit advances to $100,000 and we're extending the repayment period for those advances to Sept. 30, 2007.
- We expect the ESCAP will allow for more than $1.2 billion in cash flow to farmers at a time when they most need it.
- The proposed amendments to AMPA we introduced into Parliament last week are aimed at improving the existing cash advance programs permanently by making them more responsive to producer needs.
- That will include expanding coverage to include livestock and additional agricultural products, increasing the overall limit on advances from $250,000 to $400,000, and increasing the maximum interest-free component from $50,000 to $100,000.
- We'll also be rolling the spring and fall advance payment programs into a single program.
- These have been popular programs. Farmers drew over $1.4 billion from the spring and fall programs in 2004.
- They're popular because they are predictable and they are bankable.
- We're going to continue that and, with these amendments, we're going to make them do an even better job for you in the future.
- Since I'm here right in the middle of Canada's Grain Belt, I also want to remind you that on the day that our Government was sworn in that we announced an acceleration of payments under the Grain and Oilseeds Payment Program.
- So far, nearly $550 million has been paid out to producers through that program.
Conclusion
- This Government is hard at it - doing what we can to respond to the concerns of individual farmers and farm organizations that I've heard as I've traveled the country over the past couple of months.
- Our Budget was a good one for all Canadians - and it was a particularly good one for rural Canadians and the agriculture industry.
- As well as the CAIS changes and the Cover Crop Protection Program I've announced today, we are also working on other forward-looking initiatives announced in the Budget that will help the agriculture industry through biomass science and research, support for a bio-fuels strategy, and new opportunities for the sector through value-added products.
- And we're working on a new and innovative approach that will provide support for farm families most in need - help them find more options for the future and assist them in improving their farm and business operations.
- This is all part of our commitment to create a sustainable and prosperous agriculture and agri-food sector - and prosperity across rural Canada.
- This announcement today is a down payment on that commitment.
- Once again, I want to thank Mr. (Roland) Pfitzner for inviting us over today and to congratulate him on this beautiful operation.
- And now, I'm told that we have time for a few questions.