Nova Scotia farmers who aren’t in on AgriStability for 2023 and whose operations were hit hard by weather events this spring and/or summer now have until the end of next year to enroll.
The Nova Scotia and federal governments on Friday announced enrolment for the ag income stabilization program, which ended on April 30, has now been reopened for late participation until Dec. 31, 2024 for the 2023 program year.
“Nova Scotia’s agricultural businesses have faced real challenges due to several extreme weather events this year,” provincial Agriculture Minister Greg Morrow said in a release. “We are giving farmers who need income support more opportunity to get it, if their incomes have dropped sharply due to damaging rains, extreme heat, wildfires or other conditions.”
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Late participation in AgriStability is offered only in a program year in which a given province or territory’s producers experience a “significant agricultural disaster,” either sector-wide or provincewide.
This spring over 61,000 acres were burned in wildfires across Nova Scotia from April into June. The province then reported periods of heavy rainfall and record-level heat during the summer, including storms on the weekend of July 21 that caused severe flash flooding which killed four people and led to estimated damages of over $170 million on insured property and infrastructure alone.
Those weather events “have had a devastating impact on Nova Scotia’s agriculture industry this year,” federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay said in Friday’s release. “By allowing late participation in the AgriStability risk management program, we are ensuring producers have the time and support they need to protect their operations.”
AgriStability — which in Nova Scotia is delivered by the federal ag department — is meant to cover an enrolled producer’s margin declines greater than 30 per cent, at 80 cents for every dollar of decline.
That said, payouts — including interim payouts — to those who sign up via a late participation option such as this one are reduced by 20 per cent, to “encourage proactive enrolment.”
Late participants in Nova Scotia will need to pay a fee in two portions: a non-refundable up-front fee of $300, due by Dec. 31 next year, and $3.15 for every $1,000 of reference margin covered. Application forms will not be processed until the fee is paid.
Between June 1 and Dec. 31 in an affected program year, a province or territory can request that late participation be allowed. The federal government and affected jurisdiction must then agree jointly to extend the deadline.
For example, Nova Scotia last October opened up late participation for the 2022 program year in the wake of Hurricane Fiona.
Alberta producers last month were also granted late participation for 2023, with a deadline of Sept. 29, due to that province’s ongoing drought and wildfires. — Glacier FarmMedia Network
