KAP president Rob Brunel

 

 

Keystone Agricultural Producers is hoping the assistance program announced by the federal and provincial governments will be enough to help flooded livestock producers make it through the winter.

"We've waited a long time for this, but I think this should be fairly effective in dealing with some of the urgent need that is out there," says KAP president Rob Brunel. "We're waiting to we see the details of how this will actually work."

Brunel says the $18 million announcement came too late for many producers. He says most cattle producers are already past the point of deciding whether they have enough feed to make it through the winter. Those facing severe feed shortages have already sold some or all of their animals.

"That's the sad part. There are producers out there that made the decision earlier on and this assistance maybe could have helped them stay another year and helped them capture some of the market up-trend," he says. "It is too late. We see local auction marts with herd dispersals all the time. Hopefully this will enable enough producers to stick around."

 

KAP supported Manitoba Beef Producers in the effort to create this program. Both groups started calling for government support in early summer.

 


The program has two components:

- Flooded producers are eligible for feed assistance of up to $30 per ton (2000lbs or 907kg), based on a percentage of normal production. For example, a producer that harvested 75 percent of his/her normal hay crop would receive 75 percent of this payment. A producer requires approximately 3.7 tons of hay to sustain a single cow for the winter, meaning a full payment would be in the range of $100 to $120 per head. A 10 percent deductible will be applied to the feed assistance.

- The second component of the program comes in the form of transportation assistance. Producers who must transport feed to livestock are eligible for up to $0.22 per tonne per loaded mile. $0.10 per head per loaded mile is available for farmers who have to move animals to feed. The transportation payment rates vary according to the type of feed and animal. The minimum distance is 25 kilometres while the maximum distance for which producers can be compensated is 350 kilometers.

~ Monday, December 20, 2010 ~