Quebec’s provincial farm lending agency is set to offer a six-month moratorium on loan repayments to any customers who ask for one, against what it describes as a “crisis” for the ag sector.
La Financiere agricole du Quebec (FADQ) said Saturday the six-month stay would help lighten the obligations for farm businesses, providing them liquidity in coming months.
The agency also said it would extend this year’s enrolment deadline for its crop insurance program to May 21, from April 30, and notices of assessment would be postponed to July 1 from June 1.
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The provincial ag revenue insurance program, or ASRA, won’t be sending any notices of assessment before July 1, FADQ added.
Final ASRA payments for the 2019 insurance year will be still made in April for cattle and swine producers and in May in the sheep sector, FADQ said, and a second ASRA advance for grains and canola will be paid in April.
Interim payments are also possible under the federal/provincial AgriStability ag income stabilization program, FADQ said, and any farmers in “financial difficulty” can now request such payments.
FADQ’s moratorium on loan repayments “will allow producers to maintain the liquidity necessary to get through this period of crisis,” provincial Agriculture Minister Andre Lamontagne said in the agency’s release. — Glacier FarmMedia Network
