Organization eyes matching funds to develop risk management guide

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

by MATT MCINTOSH

Farm Management Canada says a $4.2 million federal grant will be used to improve the organization’s agri-business training programs, and create a new Comprehensive Guide to Risk Management; that is, if they can secure matching investments from other industry partners.

According to the federal government’s news release earlier this month, the $4.2 million is being allocated to Farm Management Canada over a period of five years, and comes as part of Growing Forward Two’s $114.5 million AgriCompetitiveness program.

Heather Watson, executive director of Farm Management Canada, says it is hard to tell how the federal government’s most recent investment compares to past investments, specifically because the organization has to rely on other industry partners in order to secure federal funding.

“In the past, Farm Management Canada was eligible for 100 per cent of the dollars available, and the dollars available, as you would expect, were more, because of this,” she says.

Regardless, she says the funding announcement was welcome news, and will be used to create a new and novel risk management guide.

“It will be the first of its kind, and will help farmers identify risks affecting their business, their tolerance and attitude towards risk, and strategies to mitigate the negative impacts of risk,” says Watson.

Watson says the risk management guide will work alongside the organization’s other workshops and interactive online tools, such as their Agriwebinar series -live and recorded informational videos covering a variety of agri-business topics, from structuring your farm as a corporation to developing a farm safety plan. BF