Livestock producers in British Columbia’s northern, central and Peace regions will be offered forage supply coverage for 2009 through their provincial forage production insurance program.
“When faced with regional challenges such as drought, producers struggle with decreased forage supply and increased operating costs,” the province said in a release Tuesday.
For eligible producers, the province said, forage supply coverage will include:
- additional coverage worth $40 per tonne, above and beyond conventional forage production insurance;
- assurance that if production in the north, central and Peace regions falls below 60 per cent of average production, producers with forage supply coverage will get a claim; and
- an incentive that the province will pay half of the producer’s cost of forage supply coverage for 2009.
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Livestock producers, to be eligible for this coverage, must rely on forage produced on their own farm for the majority of their forage requirements and must have already purchased at least the minimum level of forage production insurance, the province said.
The deadline to purchase forage production insurance is Nov. 30, 2008, the province noted.
“We have been working with the (agriculture) ministry to address the impacts of drought on cattle producers,” B.C. Cattlemen’s Association president Roland Baumann said in the province’s release.
“I’m pleased the program has been announced and will assist producers in the north, and we will continue to work to ensure the needs of our southern producers are met as well,” said Baumann, a producer from Vanderhoof, about 100 km west of Prince George.
