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VICTORIA – B.C. cattle producers will have a choice on the release date for the feeder cattle set-aside program designed to ease the pressure on markets and slaughter capacity due to BSE, John van Dongen, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, announced today.
The B.C. government recently announced it was providing $6 million to a program that could provide for payment to cattle producers to set aside calves from the market until prices improve.
B.C. cattle producers will have the choice of holding calves back from release until Oct. 1, 2005 with payments of $176 per calf, or Jan. 1, 2006 with payments of $200 per calf. Producers also have the option of setting aside either 30 or 40 per cent of their calves. The number of calves eligible to be set aside is based on the cows calved by the producer.
Grants, with 60 per cent coming from the federal government and 40 per cent from the province, will allow eligible producers to set aside a portion of the 2004 steer and heifer calf production, allowing time for slaughter capacity to expand to match fed-cattle production. The B.C. program, part of the national repositioning strategy for the cattle industry, will leverage an additional $9 million in federal funding for a total of $15 million for B.C. ranchers.
The program will pay farmers to keep their calves from market. A target of up to 70,000 calves held back from slaughter is expected to bolster calf prices this fall.
Van Dongen said the choice of release dates provides the best balance of achieving program targets and objectives with industry needs and consistency with the program favoured by Alberta.
As a result of the closure of the U.S. border to live ruminant animals since May 2003, the cattle herd in B.C. continues to grow and add pressure to already strained market conditions. The sector generates more than $200 million annually in farm cash receipts.
Applications, guidelines and FAQs will be available on the government portal as soon as possible at www.agf.gov.bc.ca online. Click on BSE. More information can be obtained by calling 1 877 702-5585 toll-free.
A number of short-term programs have provided almost $33 million so far to B.C. cattle and other ruminant producers. Farmers and ranchers who have not applied for the national disaster programs of the Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization program (CAIS) can sign up until Nov. 30, 2004.
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