Winnipeg, Manitoba – Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada - Producers in Manitoba facing severe drought conditions can expect relief with several initiatives announced by federal Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and Manitoba Agriculture and Resource Development Minister Ralph Eichler.
The first of the initiatives, available through Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation’s (MASC) Hay Disaster Benefit, will provide an additional $44/tonne (for every tonne below coverage) to insured forage producers to help offset the additional cost of replacement feed and transportation due to the severe shortage of forage throughout the province. The benefit was last triggered in 2019 when over $5 million was paid on close to 1,200 claims. Typically, the determination of payments for this benefit would not be made until January, once the majority of claim and harvested production report data is processed.
MASC is also applying a quality adjustment factor to appraisals on crops that are being put to alternate use under the AgriInsurance program. A 60 per cent adjustment factor to in-field appraisals will be applied on small grain cereal crops (all varieties of wheat, oats, fall rye, barley, and triticale). Reducing the appraisal of claims by 40 per cent reflects the expected reduction in quality resulting from the drought conditions. The full yield appraisal will be used to calculate future coverage, which provides producers who repurpose their crops for livestock feed an added benefit. This reduction will apply retroactively to producers who have already put their cereal crop to an alternate use this year.
Discussions are also underway to expedite the completion of the AgriRecovery Assessment process and the implementation of a Livestock Tax Deferral to assist impacted livestock producers.
Source : canada