Province and feds team up to help farmers survive dry, hot summer
The province and federal government announced adjustments to crop insurance Thursday that will allow farmers to put more poor quality crops towards livestock feed in a bid to ease feed shortages for livestock during the drought.
That's in response to a significant deterioration in crops since mid-June, when dry, extremely hot conditions settled over the prairies. Conditions are not improving, and crops are expected to deteriorate further.
The adjustment encourages farmers to salvage their crops to use for livestock feed, rather than watching their fields deteriorate further.
Low Yield Allowance is a standard part of the production insurance program, and is meant for situations of extreme heat and severe drought.
Alberta is doubling the low yield threshold to allow for more cereal or pulse crops to be saved for livestock feed. For example, the barley crop threshold will be increased from 150 to 300 kg per acre.
“Alberta’s hardworking farmers and ranchers have been hit with dry conditions that threaten their livelihoods," said Alberta agriculture and forestry minister Devin Dreeshen in a release. "We will do everything we can to help Alberta’s agriculture industry make the best of a terrible situation. We’ve heard industry’s call for help, and this change will help farmers and ensure some good can come out of these crops.”
Under the federal-provincial cost-shared Canadian Agricultural Partnership, there are a number of business risk management programs available through Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC) to help Alberta producers manage risks that threaten their farms, including crop insurance.
“We recognize that this year’s conditions have had a significant impact on our producers, "said Darryl Kay, the CEO of the Agricultural Financial Services Corporation."And we’ve been here to listen, take feedback, and mobilize our teams as quickly and efficiently as possible.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Competition bureau finds 'substantial' anti-competitive effects with proposed Bunge-Viterra merger
The proposed merger of agricultural giants Viterra and Bunge is raising competition concerns from the federal government.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.
BREAKING Mounties will not be charged in shooting death of B.C. Indigenous man
Three Mounties in British Columbia will not face charges in the killing of a 38-year-old Indigenous man on Vancouver Island in 2021.
Canada's favourite sport to watch is hockey, survey shows
The 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs have already delivered a fever level of fan excitement in Canada.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.