Governments hold firm on last fall's warning

by Karen Emilson

Last fall, cattle producers were warned by the Federal and Provincial governments that the days of ad hoc programs were over. The message came through loud and clear that the only way producers would receive financial help in the future would be through the Growing Forward program.

Now government has followed through on that promise by refusing to negotiate cash payments for producers in the flooded and drought-stricken areas of Manitoba.

Despite weekly meetings with executive members of the MCPA over the last two months; and pressure from MLAs, MPs and local government councils in the affected areas—the federal and provincial governments have held firm.

“After a few meetings it became obvious to us that the government simply was not going to move on this,” said MCPA President, Martin Unrau. “We were forced to switch our focus from trying to get approximately $120 per cow cash payment for producers, towards pressuring government to ensure that the programs they are offering will in fact work.”

The area that caused the most confusion was the AgriRecovery component of the Growing Forward program. By definition, and based on the program’s description on Agriculture Canada’s website, many believed disaster payments would be available to producers to help offset the cost to buy in feed. Many thought that it was just a matter of negotiating the amount—based on need—and getting the federal and provincial governments to agree.

But that’s not the case, according to the bureaucrats who met with the MCPA in September.

As it turns out, AgriRecovery is not designed to pay for feed but to cover auxiliary costs, like freight assistance, to producers who need to bring in feed. Those dollars are being accessed by the provincial government to help cover the cost of the Manitoba Forage Assistance Program announced in early September.

There are no dollars available to cover actual production costs except for whatever producers can access when they file their 2008 AgriStability forms. The government is encouraging producers who have enrolled in AgriStability to submit an interim application, to see if they qualify for a 2008 payment and if so, 75% of it will be paid now.

“The government is telling us AgriStability will work for producers, we are telling them it won’t,” Unrau said, explaining that he’s made it clear that producers who have low margins will have difficulty triggering a payment. “But what they are telling us is that the margins are there. So what we need is for producers to apply and then let us know if it doesn’t work for them so we can take that information back to government. If AgriStability is going to be the only game in town, it needs to be bankable and up until now it hasn’t been.”

Unrau says he is very aware of the time pressures facing producers. Government has ensured him that money will flow within 30 days of receiving an application.

“We are also asking government to stick their necks out and be able to calculate for producers when they come into the office, if they qualify for a payment and for how much before they leave,” he said. “For producers who aren’t in AgriStability, their only option is to sign up for 2009 and apply for the Emergency cash advance.”

When asked why there is resistance on the part of government to assist disaster stricken producers, especially during such difficult economic times, he said blanket style programs are probably a thing of the past.

“Part of the reason we are where we are at with government when it comes to ad hoc programs is that they have been abused,” he said. “Let’s face it, we’ve all heard of guys who have milked government programs in the past and unfortunately, that hurts the guys who really need help now.”

The MCPA will continue to meet with government on the AgriStability issue and other concerns as well.