Ontario’s Conservative government has presented a record-spending budget that includes the first year of new funding for the agriculture Risk Management Program.
The increase in funding for the Risk Management Program was promised before the provincial election held earlier this year. This is the first budget for this session of the legislature.
The budget outlined that the $100 million increase in the Risk Management Program, including the Self-Directed Risk Management Program will come over three years, with the first $30 million increase in 2025’s budget.
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The program, administered by Agricorp, allows farmers to mitigate risk beyond their control, such as market fluctuations, flooding, drought and disease.
The increase in funding to $250 million was a key request of farmer organizations, especially through the Ontario Agriculture Sustainability Coalition of commodity-based farm groups. The commodities eligible under the program include cattle, edible horticulture, grains and oilseeds, hogs, sheep and veal.
The government was otherwise sparce in its mention of agriculture and farming, but it did include a reference to the introduction of the Ontario Grape Support Program which increases the amount of Ontario grapes in bottles of wine. The program provides up to $35 million in support to wineries over five years. Total program spending is budgeted at $175 million. The government says the program is expected to double the percentage of Ontario grapes in blended wine, providing a larger market for Ontario grapes.
The government is projecting a deficit of $14.6 billion for 2025, a large increase from its expected $1.5 billion deficit announced in the fiscal update last fall. The government expects corporate tax revenues and other business activity to slip because of the tariffs imposed by American president Donald Trump, resulting in a higher deficit.
