Canada’s prairie farmers get some financial relief to restore damaged cropland

Help is on the way for prairie farmers dealing with excess moisture and flooding through the largest and fastest AgriRecovery relief package to date. The Governments of Canada, Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba, will make up to $450 million available to help farmers take immediate steps to protect and restore damaged cropland.

"Farmers are resilient when dealing with weather, but recent record flooding has proved difficult to navigate," said federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. "Governments are responding with the largest and fastest AgriRecovery relief package to date to make sure farmers can weather this storm and continue to deliver their high quality grains to kitchen tables in Canada and around the world."

Through the Governments’ action, producers will receive $30 per acre in assistance to adopt measures to protect, rehabilitate and manage affected cropland.

"Having toured many of the flooded areas and seen the impact of the extremely wet conditions first-hand, we realized the urgent need for this additional support," Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister Bob Bjornerud said. "This year has brought truly exceptional circumstances and I am pleased to work with the federal government to provide this support to help farmers in this difficult situation."

In addition to this assistance, existing federal-provincial Business Risk Management programs, such as AgriInsurance (crop insurance), AgriStability and AgriInvest, will significantly help farmers manage the impact of this natural disaster as the first lines of defence to address income shortfalls.

"The heavy rains that fell in Central and Southern Alberta in June have resulted in extraordinary losses for crop producers. I had the opportunity to visit and see the damage in the affected areas and am pleased that we are able to provide producers with some financial relief," Alberta Agriculture Minister, Jack Hayden said. "This payment will certainly help address the costs of maintaining these lands so producers can have a better year in 2011."

"Crop insurance is the first line of defence for farmers when dealing with excess moisture, unfortunately this year, excessive moisture across the prairies is creating extreme financial challenges for many farmers," said Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives Minister Stan Struthers. "Farmers need a rapid response to help them with their current cash flow situation and get on with operations during the balance of this cropping year."