Price Pooling Program (PPP)

The Price Pooling Program provides a price guarantee that protects producers and marketing agencies against unanticipated declines in the market price of their products. Program participants use the price guarantee as security in obtaining credit from lending institutions. This credit allows for an improved cash flow for producers through an initial payment for products delivered. It also provides equal returns to producers for products of like grades, varieties and types.

This program is designed to assist and encourage cooperative marketing of eligible agricultural products, including processed products.

Eligibility Criteria

The Price Pooling Program is open to any marketing agency that meets the definition in Section 2(1) of the Agricultural Marketing Programs Act:

a)  an association of producers whose object is the marketing, under a cooperative plan, of their agricultural products;
b)  a person engaged in the processing of agricultural products for marketing under a cooperative plan;
c)  a person authorized by one or more associations or persons mentioned in (a) and (b) to market agricultural products under a single cooperative plan.

An association of producers would include:

• cooperatives
• corporations
• partnerships
• associations, and
• marketing boards.

A processor is an organization involved in the processing, conversion or preparation of an agricultural product for marketing.

Eligible Activities

To qualify, the marketing agency must market the agricultural product or value-added product under a cooperative plan. The revenues derived from the sale of the agricultural product(s) are pooled and the producers receive equal returns for products of like grade, variety and type.

Summary

Benefits

• improves cash flow position of producers from an initial payment for the product delivered, allowing producers to meet short-term financial obligations. Also results in better returns for the product due to a more professional marketing approach possible in a cooperative marketing situation;
• provides equal returns to producers for products of like grade, variety and type;
• helps improve the producers' farm income by allowing the marketing of their crops over an extended season when market conditions are better thus achieving orderly marketing of these products;
• encourages producers to form marketing agencies, to take advantage of marketing opportunities;
• helps marketing agencies lock-in a minimum rate of return for their members and protects them from unexpected declines in the marketplace;
• provides marketing agencies with a price guarantee that can be used as security when obtaining credit from lending institutions for initial payments to producers;
• enables the marketing agency to profit from economies of scale;
• facilitates single desk selling with a pooled price.

Quebec Contact(s):
See National Contact.

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National Contact(s):
General enquiries:
Public Information Request Service
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Sir John Carling Building
930 Carling Avenue
Ottawa, Ontario  K1A 0C5
Telephone: 613-759-1000
Fax: 613-759-7977
Toll-free (information): 1-866-367-8506
TTY (hearing impaired): 613-759-7470
E-mail: info@agr.gc.ca or fill out the form at http://www.agr.gc.ca/index_e.php?s1=help-aide&s2;=contact
Web site: http://www.agr.gc.ca/index_e.phtml