The Provincial Government says it is providing enhanced income protection for the people who put food on our tables.
BC Agriculture Minister Lana Popham has announced some major changes to the AgriStability Enhancement Program, something she says is sort of an insurance program for farmers and ranchers when they drop below 30 percent of their income…
“The registration date we’ve sort of eliminated so farmers can register now. There’s no late penalty for doing that, and this will be backdated for 2017 so that’s a huge change that we’ve made. We’ve also increased the allowable amount of compensation from 70 percent to 80 percent, which will also be quite helpful.”
Popham says they will be able to access between 8 and 10 million dollars from this program and while it’s not just for those impacted by the wildfires this summer, she anticipates that the majority of that money will be for those in the Cariboo.
She says the changes are the result of consultation with those impacted…
“We’ve worked really closely with the BC Cattlemen’s Association and other agricultural organizations across the province. I have to say that Kevin Boone from the BC Cattlemen’s has been such a pleasure to work with. He’s very level headed and he’s also very realistic. They are very supportive of these changes. The BC Agriculture Council is also supportive of this, and they welcome the enhancements.”
Popham says the 20-million dollar AgriRecovery program, announced by the Provincial and Federal Governments back in August, is also available to farmers and ranchers.
Popham says she expects about 80 percent of that money to go to this region.