(Gloria Solano-Aguilar photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Ontario hog set-aside plan underway

AgriRecovery program taking applications through March

Ontario hog farmers can now apply for AgriRecovery toward feed costs for hogs held back from sale when certain pork packers went into COVID-19-induced slowdowns. Agricorp, the province’s ag program delivery agency, on Nov. 25 announced the Canada-Ontario COVID-19 2020 Hog Maintenance Feed Initiative, which started effective Nov. 6 and will run through to March […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Manitoba cattle sector gets COVID-19 AgriRecovery

Program to help offset costs from 'extraordinary feed period'

Manitoba cattle producers whose usual markets for finished cattle were temporarily out of reach this spring and summer may now be able to offset some of the resulting extra feed bills. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and her Manitoba counterpart, Blaine Pedersen, on Thursday announced the 2020 Canada-Manitoba Finished Cattle Feed Assistance Program, an AgriRecovery […] Read more

(File photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Saskatchewan to adjust WLPIP premiums for producers

Province also opts in to fund AgriRecovery set-aside plan

The Saskatchewan government plans to temporarily subsidize livestock producers entering the Western Livestock Price Insurance Program (WLPIP) against its recent jump in program premium costs. The province on Thursday announced it will provide $5 million to “partially offset” WLPIP premiums, which it noted have risen “significantly” since the end of February this year on COVID-19-induced […] Read more

Federal deputy agriculture minister Chris Forbes was one of the witnesses to appear via video conferencing at the Commons agriculture committee’s online meeting May 5. (Parl.gc.ca)

Opposition MPs critique government’s COVID-19 response for ag sector

Pandemic puts ag committee meeting online

Ottawa — Opposition MPs used the first meeting of the Commons standing committee on agriculture and agri-food since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to critique the federal Liberals’ $252 million aid package for farmers and food processors. During the May 5 online meeting, Quebec MP Richard Lehoux, the Conservatives’ associate agriculture critic, charged the […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

COVID-19 aid ‘falls short,’ farm groups warn

Aid package includes AgriRecovery for cattle, hog sectors

Ottawa — Despite Prime Minister Justin Trudeau saying more money will be provided if needed, the agriculture sector continues to criticize Ottawa’s $252 million in COVID-19-related financial aid offered to producers and processors. “If we have to add more, we will,” said Trudeau, after announcing new funding and programming. The federal government is offering an […] Read more


Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks at Rideau Cottage in Ottawa in this April 24, 2020 file photo. (Photo: Reuters/Blair Gable)

Trudeau pledges $252 million in COVID-19 aid for farmers, processors

Dairy commission's credit line extended for storage program

Ottawa | Reuters — Canada will invest $252 million to help some of the country’s farming and food processing sectors weather the coronavirus outbreak, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday, adding more money could come later if needed. The Canadian Federation of Agriculture, one of Canada’s biggest farm groups, asked Ottawa last week for an […] Read more

File photo of cattle on pasture.  Ontario is calling on the federal government to include costs in addition to feed and water in the AgriRecovery program, such as transportation, and temporary fencing. MikeEntertainment/iStock.Getty Images)

RMs declare ag disaster in Manitoba’s Interlake

Twelve rural municipalities in Manitoba’s Interlake and WestLake regions have declared a state of agricultural disaster due to severe dry conditions. The RMs of Alonsa, Armstrong, Bifrost-Riverton, Coldwell, Ethelbert, Fisher, Grahamdale, Lakeshore, McCreary, Ste. Rose, West Interlake and Woodlands announced the motion in a news release Thursday. The municipalities are calling on the province to […] Read more

(BC.RCMP-grc.gc.ca)

AgriRecovery offered for B.C. wildfire costs

British Columbia ranchers and farmers who lost pasture or cropland or had to move livestock out of the path of wildfires this year may be eligible for AgriRecovery funding. The federal and B.C. governments on Thursday announced a new AgriRecovery program worth up to $5 million to help defray “extraordinary costs incurred” due to wildfires […] Read more


Horses that escaped from an enclosure onto a road near an RCMP checkpoint in an evacuated zone at Williams Lake are calmed and walked to safety on July 17. (WilliamsLake.bc.rcmp-grc.gc.ca)

AgriRecovery in place for farms in B.C. wildfire zones

Farmers and ranchers whose operations were hit or evacuated during British Columbia’s particularly destructive wildfire season can expect up to $20 million in AgriRecovery funds toward repair, rebuilding and livestock feeding costs. The federal and B.C. governments on Tuesday laid out more details for the 60-40 cost-shared program, which was announced in principle in mid-August. […] Read more

Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay and B.C. Agriculture Minister Lana Popham met Wednesday in Victoria. (Photo courtesy AAFC)

Options weighed for AgriRecovery in B.C. fire zones

Officials in British Columbia are now gauging what sorts of damages and expenses can be covered through an AgriRecovery plan for ranchers and farmers affected by wildfires. The federal and B.C. governments announced Wednesday they’re “working together to quickly assess the extraordinary costs farmers are incurring and what additional assistance may be required to recover […] Read more