Victoria/Fraser Valley – B.C. farmers enrolled in the federal-provincial AgriStability program will be eligible to receive a much higher interim payment this winter to help them through a difficult 2019 agricultural year.
Increasing the maximum interim payment from 50% to 75% of the estimated final payment will improve cash flow for farmers and help them continue operations as they recover from losses. Varied patterns of extreme weather and difficult market conditions in 2019 are expected to result in higher than average AgriStability program payments to farm producers.
All farmers enrolled in AgriStability who expect to receive a payment are eligible for the increased interim payment. The increased interim amount offers timely support for grain and oilseed producers in the Peace region who have lost crops due to early snowfall, cherry growers in the Okanagan who experienced losses due to excessive rain and cranberry growers in the Fraser Valley who suffered reduced harvests due to a record-setting winter freeze in February 2019.
The AgriStability program is funded by the Governments of Canada and British Columbia to protect agricultural producers against declines in their net farming income due to market conditions, production loss or increased costs of production. Payments are made if a producer’s current year margin falls more than 30% below their reference margin.
Application and program information is available at: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/industry/agriculture-seafood/programs/agriculture-income-protection-agristability
B.C. farmers and producers with questions about AgriStability can contact the Ministry of Agriculture at 1 877 343-2767 or: AgriStability@gov.bc.ca
