Paperwork is now available for Alberta farmers to apply for grants to help put on-farm food safety regimes in place on their operations.
The On-Farm Food Safety (OFFS) Program (Producers), funded for $2.8 million over four years through the federal/provincial Growing Forward ag policy framework, provides grants for producers, horticultural packers and honey producer-graders actively engaged in crops or livestock with annual production market value of production of over $10,000.
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Grants can be applied to any of 19 current nationally-recognized, industry-led, commodity-specific on-farm food safety programs. An eligible applicant must submit a work plan and budget outlining how his or her on-farm food safety program will be set up or improved.
Activities eligible for OFFS grants include development of record keeping systems, minor building modifications, equipment and on-farm certification audits.
Approved on-farm projects get funding on a cost-shared basis; the grant covers 70 per cent of an on-farm plan’s eligible expenses, up to $5,000 per applicant, for approved activities, while the applicant covers the remaining 30 per cent.
A successful applicant will be notified as to which activities are eligible for reimbursement, the province said in a release Friday.
Once the approved activities are completed, the applicant submits a grant application form, along with receipts, appropriate time sheets, and other documents relating to such costs and expenses, before payment can be issued.
