An ad-hoc aid program pledged last week for Quebec’s Standardbred horse breeders is now in place, the province said Monday.
The program is in response to the plight of breeders hit hard by the decline in Quebec’s racetrack sector in recent years, Agriculture Minister Claude Bechard said.
The program is budgeted for $9.2 million between now and the end of March 2012, divided into portions of $6.7 million, $2 million and $500,000.
The largest round of funding will go to compensate producers for the drop in value for foals, up to $7,650 and $6,000 per foal for animals born in 2007 and 2008 respectively.
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Eligible producers’ animals must have been registered with Standardbred Canada by Dec. 31, 2007 if born in 2007, and by Sept. 30, 2009 if born in 2008. The program is budgeted up to $4.6 million for animals born in 2007 and $2.1 million for those born in 2008.
The balance of the funding, the province said, will include transition funding for producers looking to move to other types of farm production, as well as funding for those planning to stay in racehorse breeding to improve their operations.
The program has allocated $250,000 for up to 90 per cent of producers’ costs to retain consultants for diagnostics of their farms, up to $1,000 per farm and, for development of new farm business plans, up to $2,000.
The program will also allocate $1.75 million for direct aid of up to $50,000 of eligible costs per farm to carry out their new business plan. Eligible costs can include new breeding stock, buildings and machinery.
Funds budgeted for market research, development and promotion for producers planning to stay in the Standardbred business will total $500,000 over the next three years.
