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Saskatchewan to pare school tax mill rate for farmland

EPT mill rates to rise for residential, other properties

Saskatchewan’s latest budget taps down the education property tax (EPT) mill rate it sets on farmland, while raising those mill rates on other property classes. The provincial government, in Tuesday’s budget, set the provincewide EPT mill rate on agricultural land for 2021 at 1.36, down slightly from the previous rate of 1.43. EPT mill rates […] Read more

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Budget could include new BRM program, ag labour plan

Proposal for 'AgriResilience' program goes to Freeland

A new pre-budget report from the House of Commons’ finance committee is recommending several measures directly related to agriculture — including sought-after tweaks to AgriStability and creation of an entirely new business risk management program. The multipartisan committee heard testimony and received submissions from more than 800 groups and individuals. Mostly-virtual meetings took place in […] Read more

Federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland appears at a news conference in Ottawa on Sept. 24, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Blair Gable)

CFA seeks continued ag support in next federal budget

Federation also presses for Buy Canadian campaign, processing support

Federal budget consultations are underway, with agricultural groups lobbying the government to support the industry further in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland on Jan. 25 launched pre-budget consultations and since then, her schedule has involved several meetings with stakeholders. “We want to hear ideas from Canadians, from all walks of […] Read more

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Saskatchewan pares ag spending in estimates

Spending estimates released without revenue forecasts

Saskatchewan expects to pull back its spending on agriculture by about $22.4 million in its 2020-21 budget year, mainly in a reduced outlay on business risk management (BRM) programs. Provincial Finance Minister Donna Harpauer on Wednesday tabled the province’s 2020-21 spending estimates with the “unusual step” of not including revenue forecasts, citing the current COVID-19 […] Read more

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Fraser: Bibeau buying time, BRM not a federal priority

The federal government is buying time when it comes to making drastic improvements to AgriStability and other business risk management (BRM) programs. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau recently announced minor, cost-free tweaks to AgriStability, during the same week the public was given an updated look at Canada’s fiscal situation. That update shows the Liberal government’s […] Read more


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Canadians to spend more on food in 2020, report predicts

MarketsFarm — Canadians will spend two to four per cent more on food in 2020, according to the latest Canada Food Price Report from researchers at Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab and the University of Guelph. The average family in the country will see its total food bill for groceries and restaurant meals rise by […] Read more

Ontario Premier Doug Ford waves during his unofficial swearing in ceremony last summer.

OMAFRA takes a large cut in Ontario budget

Investments made in broadband internet, focus put on reducing deficit

The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) was budgeted for a cut of more than $200 million by 2020 in the recent provincial budget. The first budget from the provincial Progressive Conservative government included modest increases to health and education budgets, but cuts to most other ministries, including agriculture. The actual budget […] Read more

Finance Minister Bill Morneau appears at a pre-budget event March 14 at the Toronto Kiwanis Boys + Girls Clubs. (BMorneau.liberal.ca)

Farm groups see something for everyone in federal budget

Response so far from farm and agribusiness organizations to Tuesday’s pre-election budget suggests the federal government has managed to find at least one line item for everyone in the ag sector. Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s budget pledges compensation for supply-managed sectors facing financial hits from international trade pacts, funding for a new federal food policy […] Read more


U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump survey damage and are briefed by a FEMA official on March 8, 2019 in Beauregard, Alabama, where 23 people in Lee County were killed by tornadoes earlier in the week. (Photo: Reuters/Mike Theiler)

Trump budget proposes steep subsidy cuts to U.S. farmers

Washington | Reuters — U.S. President Donald Trump’s 2020 budget on Monday proposed a 15 per cent cut for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, calling its subsidies to farmers “overly generous” at a time when they are going through the worst crisis in decades because of depressed commodity prices and Trump’s trade tariffs. The Republican […] Read more

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Canola Council resets course for ‘efficiencies’

Facing new limits on available funding, Canada’s canola value chain organization plans to refocus its work on its “core strengths” and collaborate with other players. The Canola Council of Canada on Wednesday announced a revised work plan, coming out of a “priorities review” undertaken after one of Canada’s biggest grain companies called a halt to […] Read more