New plans for RMP program

Thursday, March 29, 2012

by SUSAN MANN

Ontario has given up trying to convince the federal government to fund its share of the Business Risk Management program and will now rework the one-year-old program instead, says Agriculture Minister Ted McMeekin.

Asked how the Ontario government will try to persuade the federal government to pay its share, McMeekin say they’re not. “We’ve given up.” But Ontario is disappointed the federal government hasn’t joined in funding the program, introduced last year for beef, pork, veal sheep, grains and oilseeds along with the self-directed risk management program for fruits and vegetables.

Instead “we’re going to recast the program. We’re going to do that as we always do in OMAFRA we’ll do it collaboratively,” he explains.

The government, like farmers, wants predictability and stability, he says. If commodity prices went down 20 per cent, for example, it would cost the government an extra $300 million in payouts under the program. “That’s not the intent of the program,” he says, noting the program was designed to help grow the industry and provide some reliability and stability. But without the federal “partner there it just isn’t viable.”

The Ontario government is still committed to risk management but “we need to make some changes,” he says. McMeekin says they’ll be talking to farm leaders and work with them to see what needs to be done to reshape the program. “Maybe it’s some marketing funds for some sectors; maybe it’s a leger account for others; maybe its research and innovation in certain areas that can be tracked to growing the industry.”

The program is safe for this year, he says. But discussions on changes have already started.

For their part farm groups are encouraged the Ontario government has preserved the risk management program for this year. The Ontario Agriculture Sustainability Coalition (OASC) is “encouraged by this government commitment and we will be working with Minister McMeekin to continue to provide a risk management program that is predictable and bankable for our farmers as well as the government,” OASC representative Don Kenny says in a press release.

OASC will monitor developments as more budget details become available.

Ontario Federation of Agriculture president Mark Wales says given the government’s necessity to deal with the deficit “from an agriculture standpoint the budget was pretty reasonable. It’s nice to see that the risk management program was noted in the budget as being an innovative approach.”

About the internal reviews the agriculture ministry will be doing to enhance productivity, Wales says that’s not surprising. “They always should look at the most efficient, cost-effective way to use taxpayer dollars.” The idea should be to have the minimum amount of money for administration and the maximum amount of money going to the farm gate where it’s needed, he says. BF