Details of Saskatchewan’s AgriRecovery Program revealed

Saskatchewan’s agriculture industry got a financial boost from the provincial and federal governments Friday to help compensate for a difficult year.

Federal Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Lawrence MacAulay and Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister David Marit revealed the details of Saskatchewan’s AgriRecovery Program in a media release.

“I’ve had the opportunity to meet with farmers and producers from across Western Canada and they’ve shared just how challenging this growing season has been for their operations,” MacAulay said. “With a federal investment of $219 million through AgriRecovery, we’re helping them recover so they can continue to feed Canada, and the world.”

“The livestock sector is a significant contributor to our provincial economy,” Marit added. “It is important we are there for producers through the current challenges. The program will provide some financial relief to livestock producers, helping them to maintain the breeding herd by providing funding to address extraordinary costs caused by the drought.”

According to the release, the program will cover 70 per cent of what the government called “extraordinary costs related to feed and freight” that were incurred between May 1 of this year and the application deadline of March 1 next year.

Those costs include purchased feed, self-hauling or transportation costs for feed or breeding animals, and/or land rented for additional grazing acres or additional feed production.

Eligible producers will receive an initial payment of up to $150 per head to help maintain their breeding herd in regions affected by the drought. Additional payments will be given to program participants if funding is available.

Online application forms are to be available at scic.ca. The submitted application needs to indicate the number of breeding animals on hand as of Aug. 21 that are intended to be kept until Jan. 31 of next year.

In August, the provincial government announced it was providing $70 million in relief to livestock producers affected by the drought in Saskatchewan. The federal share of funding for the province’s AgriRecovery Program is up to $77 million.

“On behalf of Saskatchewan’s cattle industry, we thank the provincial and the federal governments for providing this much-needed funding for our producers who have been impacted by this drought,” Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association chair Keith Day said in the release.

“We appreciate the provincial government’s recognition of the urgency of the situation, as was demonstrated through their funding announcement in August. While today’s announcement is later than we had hoped, it will be a help to many producers that have already and continue to incur extraordinary expenses to ensure the wellbeing of their herds.”

More information is available by contacting the Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation by phone (1-844-723-1211) or email (skfp@scic.ca).