Marie-Claude Bibeau, Dave Epp, Yves Perron and Alistair MacGregor laid out their parties’ positions in an agriculture leaders’ debate on Sept. 9, 2021. (Video screengrab from Canadian Federation of Agriculture via YouTube)

Federal support for farmers focus of ag leaders’ debate

AgriStability, carbon levy exemptions, supply management among topics

An agricultural debate ahead of the federal election gave representatives from political parties an opportunity to pitch their ideas to producers, resulting in debate over how best to support farmers. Thursday evening’s debate, hosted by the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, had plenty of discussion about climate change and how best to support producers in a

Opinion: Co-operation breakdown

Drought-prompted AgriStability changes are not a sign of continued co-operation

A drought forced the federal and Saskatchewan government to reach an agreement on AgriStability – but is it a sign of what’s to come? Near the start of August, the two governments agreed to allow Saskatchewan producers early access to the 2021 payments they are entitled to. The two ministers of agriculture involved, Marie-Claude Bibeau


File photo of the flags of Canada and its provinces and territories at Canada Place in Vancouver. (lilly3/iStock/Getty Images)

Request line open for AgriRecovery drought plans, Bibeau says

Formal ask needed to trigger process: ag minister

Canada’s federal agriculture minister says the government is “ready to receive formal submissions” from provinces for AgriRecovery plans to help Prairie farmers and ranchers up against significant droughts this summer. Marie-Claude Bibeau, summarizing discussions from Thursday’s online meeting with provincial and territorial (FPT) agriculture ministers, said the formal requests “are needed to trigger the process,”

Farmer and Grainews columnist Toban Dyck inspects wheat on July 6, 2021 near Winkler, Man., where hot and dry weather has led to thin, uneven stands. (Photo: Reuters/Rod Nickel)

Saskatchewan raises salvage threshold for parched crops

Stock watering program also boosted; APAS, Tories' ag critic had called for more drought aid

Saskatchewan’s provincial crop insurance agency is raising the yield threshold at which drought-damaged crops can be grazed, baled for greenfeed or cut for silage with no penalty on future coverage. Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corp. said Wednesday it would double the “low yield appraisal” threshold values on cereal or pulse crop acres put to feed. SCIC


Net government program payments to Canadian farmers, excluding farmer premiums and money from private programs, totalled $2.4 billion in 2020.

Canadian farm net cash income higher in 2020

Government payouts to farmers went up too, but there’s a good reason

Canadian — and Manitoba — farmers saw a jump in government program payments in 2020, as well as higher gross revenues and net cash income. Increased government payouts might seem counterintuitive, but much of the money came to farmers through crop insurance and AgriStability due to poor crops in 2019. “Direct program payments rose 10.8

File photo of the flags of Canada and its provinces and territories at Canada Place in Vancouver. (lilly3/iStock/Getty Images)

Feds launch consultations on next ag policy framework

Programming types, cost-sharing among expected contentious points

Consultations for Canada’s next agricultural policy framework are officially underway. The five-year framework agreement currently in place, known as the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP), is a $3 billion funding deal between federal, provincial and territorial governments that funds a wide range of programming within the sector. That deal, agreed upon in mid-2017, kicked off in


File photo of Manitoba NDP leader Wab Kinew speaking to reporters on June 30, 2020.

NDP leaders team up to push AgriStability changes

Provincial conservatives have delayed and acted in half-measures, says NDP leader Kinew

Prairie NDP leaders banded together to call on their provincial governments to stop wasting time and agree to the full suite of AgriStability changes the federal government has offered. They’ve seen Prairie conservative premiers “delay, delay, delay,” said Wab Kinew, leader of Manitoba’s opposition New Democratic Party. When they’ve acted “it was only a half

Federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland appears at a news conference in Ottawa on Sept. 24, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Blair Gable)

Agriculture, agrifood wish lists pile up ahead of long-delayed budget

Freeland's budget due out Monday afternoon

Agriculture and agrifood sector stakeholders will learn Monday which of their requests make their way out of the pile and into a long-awaited federal budget. Federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s 2021 budget is scheduled to be released Monday in the House of Commons, at about 4 p.m. ET. Canadians didn’t get a 2020 budget: it


Such criticism is misleading, and wrongly places the blame on Ottawa.

Opinion: Feds came with cash, Prairies didn’t

The western provinces want to blame the feds for failing to fund, while keeping their own purses closed

The Prairie provinces are being disingenuous in their failure to take responsibility for AgriStability reform talks that floundered largely due to their tight pockets. Yes, the AgriStability saga between Prairie provinces and the federal government continues, despite the two sides agreeing on a major reform. After more than a year of back-and-forth negotiations, provinces agreed

(Lightguard/iStock/Getty Images)

Saskatchewan to pare school tax mill rate for farmland

EPT mill rates to rise for residential, other properties

Saskatchewan’s latest budget taps down the education property tax (EPT) mill rate it sets on farmland, while raising those mill rates on other property classes. The provincial government, in Tuesday’s budget, set the provincewide EPT mill rate on agricultural land for 2021 at 1.36, down slightly from the previous rate of 1.43. EPT mill rates