FERGUS – Michael Chong, Member of Parliament for Wellington-Halton Hills, welcomed news that the Government of Canada, in partnership with the Province of Ontario, is delivering relief for livestock producers in Wellington County and Halton Hills who are facing severe forage shortages as a result of this summer’s dry growing conditions. The governments of Canada and Ontario will provide assistance through AgriRecovery to help livestock producers with transportation costs incurred in accessing feed for their breeding herds over winter.
“Some farmers in Wellington County and Halton Hills were hit particularly hard during the drought in summer 2012,” said Chong. “The economy is the government’s top priority and the agriculture industry plays an important role in sustaining a strong, local economy. I am pleased that there will be assistance available to our local farmers through AgriRecovery.”
Drought conditions during the summer significantly reduced forage yields and damaged pastures for livestock producers in Ontario. The Ontario Forage and Livestock Transportation Assistance Initiative will provide up to $2.4 million to help affected livestock producers in designated drought areas of eastern and southwest Ontario cover a portion of the costs of transporting feed to their breeding herds, or breeding herds to areas with surplus feed. Agricorp will administer the Ontario Forage and Livestock Transportation Assistance Initiative, and more information can be found at http://goo.gl/xjACB.
The two components of the initiative are:
- Up to $0.14 per tonne, per kilometer to assist with the transportation of forage and feed; or
- Up to $0.075 per kilometre, per animal, to move animals to available feed.
This initiative is being delivered under the AgriRecovery Framework, which allows governments to respond to unforeseen disasters that result in high recovery costs for producers. Producers are encouraged to make full use of existing government programs – AgriInsurance, AgriStability and AgriInvest – designed to help them mitigate income and production losses.
AgriRecovery builds upon support that the government has already provided, such as the HayEast initiative to help with the costs of transporting hay donated from Western Canada. The federal government is also providing tax deferrals to eligible producers in designated drought areas on the sale of their breeding livestock. To learn more about the designated areas for the 2012 Livestock Tax Deferral Provision, visit: http://international.gc.ca/world-monde/funding-financement/open_calls-appels_ouverts.aspx?lang=eng
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