The Ontario government announced it is doubling the amount of money eligible beef farmers can borrow through the Feeder Cattle Guarantee Program.
Effective immediately, loan limits for the Feeder Cattle Loan Guarantee Program are increasing from $500,000 to $1 million for experienced individual co-op members and up to $1.5 million for experienced corporations that participate in feeder cattle co-operatives.
The Feeder Cattle Loan Guarantee Program supports feeder cattle producers by offering short-term loans at below-market rates – based on the strength of a 25 per cent loan guarantee by the provincial government.
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The provincial government said in a release these improvements will help beef farmers better manage fluctuating production costs and market volatility as they work to expand their businesses and ensure the sector retains the knowledge and expertise of experienced farmers. By providing beef farming businesses access to greater amounts of low-cost capital, this move also adds to the many efforts to support pandemic recovery across the agri-food sector.
The Beef Farmers of Ontario (BF)) is assisting in the delivery of this programming.
Rob Lipsett, BFO president, said the program “provides affordable and accessible financing options for many younger members who represent the future of our industry. An increase in the loan limits will help ensure financing limits keep pace with the price of cattle and in turn, maintain the program’s relevancy and benefits for Ontario’s cattle feeding sector.”
Steve Eby, chair of the Ontario Feeder Finance Provincial Council said “the increase in loan limits will allow each of our 15 co-ops to continue to attract and maintain members with various sized cattle operations, and also provide an opportunity for expansion utilizing the co-operative structure of the Ontario Feeder Cattle Loan Guarantee Program.”
