AgriRecovery programs set up in Saskatchewan and Alberta to help cover feed costs for cattle producers unable to ship livestock to slaughter are gearing down, while Ontario’s program begins a third intake.
Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corp. announced Friday that the province’s AgriRecovery set-aside program will end March 31, 2021, with Jan. 19 now set as the last enrolment day for cattle and bison producers.
The program, SCIC said, was set up “in response to COVID-19-related disruptions in the slaughter industry,” but “current slaughter capacities have returned to pre-COVID-19 levels, indicating surplus levels are being managed.”
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Alberta’s AgriRecovery program included a bid set-aside process for cattle set aside starting June 29, 2020 and due to run until March 31, 2021 at the latest, or “until the initiative’s funds are distributed (or) the need to set aside animals no longer exists.”
Based on “current program terms and conditions,” Alberta’s Agriculture Financial Services Corp. has announced the Fed Cattle Feed Cost Offset Initiative’s final bid week will open Jan. 18.
In Ontario, meanwhile, a third intake for that province’s AgriRecovery cattle set-aside initiative is set to open Monday (Jan. 11) at 9 a.m. and close Jan. 12 at 5 p.m.
The set-aside period for cattle enrolled in that third intake begins Jan. 18, Ontario’s Agricorp said Friday in a release. Further intakes for the Ontario program “will be assessed on a weekly basis,” the agency said.
Ontario’s set-aside program was triggered when the province’s biggest beef packing plant, Cargill’s facility at Guelph, halted production Dec. 17 due to a COVID outbreak. The plant began to resume production starting Dec. 29. — Glacier FarmMedia Network
