Farmers in Ontario have until Monday (Nov. 2) to make their thoughts known on a proposed $45 hike in the farm registration fee that supports the province’s general farm organizations.
The farm business registration fee, introduced by the Rae government in 1993 as a “stable source of operating funding” for the accredited ag group of the farm operator’s choice, is currently $150 plus tax per year.
The province now proposes to amend its Farm Registration and Farm Organizations Funding Act to raise the fee to $195.
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Among the three accredited farm groups, about 85 per cent of the province’s 47,000 registered farms direct their payments to support the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA). About 10 per cent direct their fees to the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario (CFFO) and another five per cent direct them to the National Farmers Union (NFU).
Registered farm businesses can also get a full refund within a given time period after registering, by writing to the farm organization they picked during the registration process. No reason needs to be given.
Farm businesses are required by law to register with the province through Agricorp if they gross more than $7,000 in farm income per year.
While the OFA and CFFO are reported to have lobbied hard for the registration fee hike, the NFU said in a statement on its website that it has resisted those efforts for the past two years.
“While we understand the issue of cost increases and our costs as an organization have increased, our basic concern has always been the financial well-being of family farmers,” the NFU said.
The NFU also noted that the comment period for farmers to make their wishes known about the proposed amendments was “limited to a few weeks.”
The notice was posted by the province on Oct. 19 with a Nov. 2 deadline, the group said.
“We encourage all farmers to express your views about a fee increase to the government during the short consultation period,” the NFU said on its site.
The province has asked for comment online and by fax to Barry Sinclair, the agriculture department’s manager of property tax and farm finance in Guelph.
