Nova Scotia Strikes Better Deal with Feds

Nova Scotia has negotiated a better deal for farmers under the two-year national Agricultural Income Disaster Assistance Program, said Agriculture and Marketing Minister Ed Lorraine today along with Premier Russell MacLellan and Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture president Anthony Van Oostrum.

The deal will make available a minimum of $7.5 million to Nova Scotia farmers through direct assistance and credits, almost doubling the original estimate of $2 to $4 million offered when the agricultural assistance program was announced in February. At that time, Nova Scotia was the only province not to sign on.

"We have been negotiating with Ottawa since February to get the best deal for Nova Scotia farmers, and I am pleased with the outcome and that the province will be credited for some of the programs we have already established to assist farmers impacted by depressed incomes," said Mr. Lorraine. "The funding announced today is also a minimum. We will be continuing to work with the federal government on doing further studies to see what support can be given to specific commodities that may need additional assistance and to secure additional credits for existing programs."

A portion of the $7.5 million is a $2 million federal credit for a portion of investment the province has already committed to assist the depressed pork industry through the Pork Risk Management Fund.

"The government understands and appreciates how important agriculture is to so many of our rural communities and to the province as a whole," said Premier MacLellan. "Negotiating this better deal with the federal government is part of our efforts to support farmers and we will continue to support them in the future to make sure agriculture thrives in this province."

"The Federation of Agriculture supports the current agreement between the provincial and federal governments on income disaster funding with some disappointment given the farm income challenges facing some Nova Scotia farmers," said NSFA president Anthony Van Oostrum. "While we recognize that Ottawa has been as flexible as possible within the guidelines of their program in order to accommodate Nova Scotia's farm income problems, the fact remains that the program does not fully address the farm income problems here in Nova Scotia."

Alan Steel, deputy minister of the Department of Agriculture and Marketing, agrees with the federation that the program did not address the uniqueness and diversity of Nova Scotia's agricultural industry. However, he said negotiations will continue next week when provincial deputies meet with their federal counterpart to discuss a new five-year safety net and companion program agreement for producers.

"We have a better deal on the program than was offered in February. It is now time to negotiate hard to get a fair and equitable deal for Nova Scotia which will lead us well into the next decade," said Mr. Steel.

Working with industry, the government has introduced initiatives totalling $32 million to deal with farm income issues, including: a $20 million five-year Weather-Related Relief Package that included debt and interest relief announced in 1998; $3.2 million Weather-Related Loan Loss Program announced in 1997; and $600,000 Beef Performance Program announced in 1998.

Agriculture contributes $1 billion annually to the provincial economy and supports 16,000 direct and indirect jobs.