B.C. farmers hit hard by a challenging 2018 now have a bit of stability.

Newly appointed federal agricultural minister Marie-Claude Bibeau B次元官网网址� in her first order of business since being named the first-ever woman agriculture minister in a small cabinet shuffle by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a week ago B次元官网网址� announced that Canada and B.C. have triggered the late participation mechanism under the AgriStability program for 2018 to help farmers access needed support to deal with income losses.

Bibeau, who hails from the rural Quebec riding of Compton-Stanstead, made the announcement at Ira and Noreen FrenchB次元官网网址檚 Vernon dairy farm on Commonage Road Monday morning.

The new feature, under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, means hundreds of additional farmers and ranchers from B.C. will be eligible to join and benefit from the program. The feature can be triggered by governments in situations where there is a significant income decline in the farm sector and a gap in program participation.

Many B.C. producers faced financial challenges last year due to significant production and market losses.

B次元官网网址淥ur government recognizes that many B.C. farmers and ranchers are facing financial hardship caused by extreme weather events and poor market prices,B次元官网网址� said Bibeau, sheltered from a bitterly cold wind blowing across the Commonage by the FrenchB次元官网网址檚 hay barn.

B次元官网网址淭he AgriStability late participation feature will help more farmers access the support they need to cope with income shortfalls. We encourage B.C. farmers to take full advantage of all available business risk management programs.B次元官网网址�

The late participation measure is in addition to previously announced assistance by the Liberals in October under the AgriRecovery disaster framework that provided $5 million to help the provinceB次元官网网址檚 agriculture sector recover from losses due to the 2018 wildfires, which consumed 1.3 million hectares of land, surpassing 2017B次元官网网址檚 record damage year.

B.C. agriculture minister Lana Popham said adjusting the AgriStability program to help more B.C. producers whose income declined in 2018 offers support to those farmers, the communities theyB次元官网网址檙e part of and agriculture in B.C.

B次元官网网址淏.C. ranchers and farmers work hard to support our provinceB次元官网网址檚 food supply and economy, and when they experience extreme hardship such as the last two years, they need our help,B次元官网网址� said Popham.

Canadian CattlemenB次元官网网址檚 Association president Dave Haywood-Farmer of Kamloops was delighted with the announcement.

B次元官网网址淭odayB次元官网网址檚 announcement will benefit more B.C. producers and farmers who were impacted by the fires in 2018 which, unfortunately, are becoming a regular occurrence in B.C. during the summer months,B次元官网网址� said Haywood-Farmer. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 also a good example of the diversity of conditions that can impact Canadian beef industries in any given year.B次元官网网址�

Bibeau continued her tour with a stop in Kelowna Monday afternoon. SheB次元官网网址檒l visit Calgary Tuesday and wraps up her Western Canadian tour in Winnipeg Wednesday.

roger@vernonmorningstar.com
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