Agriculture ministers for Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador have signed on the line to officially extend most of the Agricultural Policy Framework (APF) programming in their provinces through to April 1, 2009 at the latest.
“Continuing programs will allow for a smooth transition to Growing Forward and will provide certainty for our farmers and all our partners as that transition takes place,” Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister Bob Bjornerud said in that province’s press release Monday.
The APF is the five-year federal/provincial agreement on agriculture programs’ funding and delivery, developed under the Chretien government and launched in 2003. It included the Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization (CAIS) program for business risk management.
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Canada’s agriculture ministers agreed in principle in November last year to seek approval from their provincial governments to extend their commitments to the federal/provincial APF on its environment, food safety, innovation and renewal pillars. The federal government granted that approval last month to extend the federal share of the funding.
The fifth pillar, business risk management (BRM), is covered under the first pillar of the Growing Forward program now being developed by the federal and provincial ag ministries. That pillar includes the new AgriStability and AgriInvest programs which replace CAIS.
Following a conference call Friday about Growing Forward, the ministers in a statement “reiterated their commitment to continue listening to farmers, farm organizations and other stakeholders in the agri-food sector, and involving them over the coming months to ensure new programs will meet farmers’ needs.”
The extension on the non-BRM APF pillars “gives us the time we need to ensure farmers have the voice they deserve in program design,” federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said in the three provinces’ news releases.
The ministers, after Friday’s call, said they’re “committed to having a final agreement framework in place for Growing Forward by their annual conference” in Quebec City July 8-11.
The ministers said other topics on the conference call included World Trade Organization talks, the U.S. Congress’ plans for country-of-origin labeling on imported meat and produce, and “developments in the (domestic) livestock sector.”
