Governments back Ontario drought-stricken livestock producers' feed transport costs

Thursday, December 13, 2012

by SUSAN MANN

Ontario livestock breeders in specific drought stricken areas across the province will soon be able to tap into government funding to help pay transportation costs for feed, or to truck animals to areas with available feed.

The federal and Ontario governments jointly announced up to $2.4 million in funding Friday morning at the Cobden Agricultural Hall in Renfrew County. The funding is for livestock farmers in designated drought areas in eastern and southwestern Ontario to help cover a portion of their extraordinary transportation costs. The $2.4 million is in addition to funding the two governments have pledged for the Hay East campaign.

Dan Darling, Ontario Cattlemen’s Association president, says in a press release the transportation funds “are imperative for financial stability and will help Ontario farmers maintain their breeding herds over the winter months.” He thanked the governments for their support.

The financial assistance enables farmers to get up to 14 cents a tonne, per kilometre to help transport forage and feed and up to 75 cents 7.5 cents per kilometre, per animal to move animals to available feed.

The announcement was made by MP Cheryl Gallant (Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke) on behalf of federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and MPP Phil McNeely (Ottawa-Orleans) on behalf of Ontario Agriculture Minister Ted McMeekin.

The money for the Ontario Forage and Livestock Transportation Assistance Initiative falls under the federal and provincial AgriRecovery disaster relief program.

McMeekin said during a teleconference after the announcement was made in Cobden that farmers would be able to apply for the program early in the new year.

This summer’s drought severely affected 15 counties and regions in the province, McMeekin says.

In a background document to the announcement, it says from the beginning of May to late August much of southern Ontario received at least 40 per cent less precipitation than normal. The dry weather caused a significant drop in forage production in the province. Some farmers were forced to feed their first cut hay in July and August, which means they have less hay available to feed this winter.

Gallant says livestock farmers are suffering from “forage shortages due to prolonged drought this summer and some would argue that drought is still ongoing.”

The forage shortages have forced many livestock farmers to find alternate sources of feed for their animals “that must be transported from long distances at a significant costs,” she says. And that’s why the federal and provincial governments worked closely to develop a response “that compliments the existing programming and ensures producers have the necessary support to keep their breeding herds over the winter months.”

McNeely says the up to $2.4 million in funding will help Ontario farmers who face difficulty keeping their livestock through the winter. “The Ontario government knows that the need among farmers in specific areas of the province is great because of the weather.”

More information and details on how to apply can be obtained from Agricorp.

The federal government is also providing tax deferrals to eligible producers in designated drought areas on the sale of their breeding livestock. The list of designated areas for the 2012 Livestock Tax Deferral Provision is at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Drought Watch site. BF