“Our government promised farmers we would continue to expand and enhance RMP, and with this historic investment, we have delivered,” said Rob Flack, minister of Agriculture Food and Agribusiness at VanQuaethem Farms Ltd. in Eden, Ont., January 28.

Why it matters: The increase will support farmers responding to market challenges while boosting confidence and competitiveness.

The increase will be phased in over three years, with $30 million added in the 2025 program year until the program reaches a total of $250 million in the 2027 program year, with producer premiums remaining at 35 per cent of government funding. It builds on reforms allowing unused program funds to be rolled over for future years’ claims, the $50 million annual increase to RMP in 2020 and AgriStability’s increase from 70 to 80 per cent compensation rates in 2023, making the program more responsive in times of need.

Ontario Minister of Finance Peter Bethlenfalvy said the government must protect farmers against economic uncertainty and support the hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in economic activity the sector generates.

“It will also help ensure the continued growth of Ontario’s thriving agri-food sector for generations,” he said.

Commodities who have lobbied extensively for the RMP increase saw the announcement, made hours before an expected early provincial election call, as a hard-fought win.

“(The RMP investment) could not come at a better time, given the uncertainty and escalating risks facing farm operations,” said Craig McLaughlin, president of Beef Farmers of Ontario. “This is, without a doubt, the most important investment the province could make for our sector and one that will serve to support the security of Ontario farms and Ontario food production for many years.”

Ontario Sheep Farmers chair Art Alblas said the impact of RMP investment in the sheep industry is evident.

“Lamb production enrolled in this program has doubled since 2020 and continues to increase,” Alblas said. “(This investment) will support current and new sheep farmers as we expand production to meet the growing demand for lamb in Ontario.”

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The province on May 29 announced the deadlines for grain and oilseed producers to submit their completed RMP applications and make any coverage changes — previously set at May 10 — has now been moved to June 30.

For livestock producers, the deadline to submit applications or request coverage changes, previously extended to April 15 for the 2023 program year, has now also been reset to June 30.

Agricorp, the province’s farm program delivery agency, said May 29 the latest deadline move is meant to “give farmers more time to evaluate their coverage decisions” and more flexibility in making those decisions.

That said, to be eligible for RMP: Grains and Oilseeds, grower customers will still also need to have Production Insurance coverage — the application deadline for which remained May 10.

Ontario’s RMP, set up as a permanent program in 2011, is intended to help farmers manage risks beyond their control, such as fluctuating costs and market prices.

The program is intended as a complement to Production Insurance, which insures against production losses, and AgriStability, a whole-farm ag income stabilization program. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Agricorp, the province’s farm program delivery agency, reiterated in a statement Tuesday that the RMP “will be available in 2021 (and) program details will be shared with customers as soon as they are available.”

Renewal packages are going out to farm customers “a bit later than usual this year” but that won’t affect customers’ coverage, Agricorp said.

RMP customers “do not need to do anything at this time, including reporting their sales for the RMP for livestock program.”

Launched as a pilot in 2007 and made permanent in 2011, Ontario’s RMP is meant to help farmers offset risks such as fluctuating costs and market prices.

Variations of the RMP are available for farmers in the grains and oilseeds, edible horticulture, cattle, hog, sheep and veal sectors. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Agricorp, the province’s ag program delivery agency, announced Wednesday the new deadline for applications or coverage changes for 2020 will be June 30.

The previous deadlines to apply or file for changes were May 1 for grain and oilseed producers and April 1 for cattle, hogs, sheep and veal producers.

Though the deadline has changed, producers should apply or change coverage “as soon as they’re ready to get their coverage in place,” Agricorp said in a release Thursday.

Coverage options for 2020 will not be affected by the extended deadline, and program delays “will not cause gaps in coverage,” the agency said.

“Extending the RMP deadlines gives farmers more time to make business decisions and to assess their program coverage needs, especially while dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic,” Agricorp said Thursday.

RMP renewal packages went out to livestock producers in February, and are “currently in the mail” for grain and oilseed producers, Agricorp said, but noted both are also available online through its website.

Packages for the “self-directed” RMP plan for edible horticulture producers go out in the fall. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Agricorp, the province’s farm program delivery agency, on Thursday released full 2019 program details for the RMPs for grains/oilseeds, cattle, hogs, veal and sheep, including premium rates and updated program timelines.

As the province announced last month, the RMP this year will include a 95 per cent coverage level, billed as a “cost-effective alternative to the existing 100 per cent coverage level.”

But because of the new option, “coverage is not automatically renewed this year,” Agricorp warned Thursday — meaning, unlike in previous RMP years, a farmer who leaves his or her coverage decisions unchanged won’t see those changes rolled over to the current program year.

“Customers will need to evaluate their options and contact Agricorp to select a coverage level that is best for their farms.”

Grains/Oilseeds RMP customers will be able to select their coverage level when they report their planted acres for production insurance, “all in one phone call,” Agricorp added.

Renewal packages are to be mailed out this month, Agricorp said Thursday.

“Participation timelines have been adjusted to provide additional time for customers to make the best decisions for their farm businesses.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Agriculture Minister Jeff Leal, in a recent letter to Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO) chair Mark Brock, said he has decided not to proceed with interim changes to RMP for 2018, pending a review of federal/provincial business risk management (BRM) programming.

Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial ag ministers, at their meeting in July, accepted Ontario’s proposal for a review of BRM programs, Leal said in the letter, dated Sept. 15.

To make “best use of our collective resources,” Leal said he instead plans to evaluate the provincial RMP “concurrently” with a federal BRM review.

Ontario’s evaluation of the RMP, Leal said, will not involve changing the program’s annual funding, which remains capped at its 2013 level of $100 million.

Changes coming out of such an evaluation, he said, “need to result in additional dollars flowing toward economic need,” and need to provide “an environment which promotes demonstrable producer investment in growth, innovation and job creation.”

Also, he said, changes to RMP would need to “facilitate integration with federal BRM programs and be consistent with federal best practices in terms of risk management.”

RMP, he said, also must remain “trade compliant” and work toward expanding international markets for Ontario farm products.

The RMP, provincially funded and administered by Ontario’s farm program delivery agency, Agricorp, provides payments to producers when covered commodities’ market prices fall below a support level based on industry-average costs of production.

From where GFO sits, an interim revision to RMP right now would have led to “confusion for our farmer members, and we are pleased the minister put this on hold,” Brock said in a release last week.

“With the federal review of business risk management underway, it makes sense that the ministry delays the update to the provincial program at this time,” GFO said Sept. 20. “Ontario’s RMP should complement the federal suite, ensuring both programs work together.”

The federal BRM review, Leal said, is expected to address “challenges” outlined in the ag ministers’ Calgary statement from July, and “to assist in fulfilling the Barton report’s vision.”

The Calgary statement called for “improve(d) participation, timeliness, simplicity and predictability” in BRM programming, as well as development of private-sector risk management tools, “collaborative” emergency management initiatives, and monitoring of programs to make sure they work as intended.

Recommendations from the Barton report, released in February by the federal government’s Advisory Council on Economic Growth, pointed to agriculture as a sector from which Canada could realize significant growth and suggested the country has the potential to rise from the fifth-largest to second-largest ag exporting nation.

A first draft of federal BRM program revisions is expected in 2018, GFO noted. — AGCanada.com Network

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