Federal Ag Minister Gerry Ritz Announces New Growing Forward 2 Programs

Three New Programs to Streamline Investments in Agriculture and Agri-Food Sector

By Amanda Brodhagen, Farms.com

Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz announced three new federal programs under the Growing Forward 2 framework on Friday that will work towards streamlining investments in the agriculture and agri-food sector. The new programs will focus primarily on innovation, competitiveness and marketing development that will come into effect April, 2013.

The following are the three new federal programs:

• AgriInnovation Program – will work towards assisting the industry with developing and commercializing new products and technologies
• AgriMarketing Program – will assist the industry strengthen its ability to adopt assurance systems such as food safety and traceability. It will also support the industry in securing new markets and helping with branding and promotional initiatives
• AgriCompetitiveness Program – will work on targeting investments that will help strengthen the sector and assist the industry with adapting to domestic and global market changes

"These new Growing Forward 2 programs will build on the success of existing programs to provide more streamlined support to the sector to help it remain a world leader in agricultural innovation and trade," said Minister Ritz. "We are making sure farmers and the entire sector has the tools and resources they need to stay ahead of the ever-changing demands of consumers."

The AgriInnovation Program takes effect Dec. 7 2012 and will be accepting applications immediately while the other two programs won’t be accepting applications until early 2013.

The streamlining of the agriculture programs was a promise made in the 2012 Economic Action Plan in attempts to make it easier for applicants to access programs. Growing Forward 2 represents $3 billion investment over a five year period.