Nova Scotia farmers who didn’t qualify for federal disaster financial assistance (DFA) in the wake of Hurricane Fiona last September may be able to get in on a new provincial program instead.
The province on Thursday announced $3 million for what it calls the Fiona Agriculture Response Gap Funding program, offering up to $400,000 for farmers — those with a gross farm commodity income of $10,000 or more — who weren’t eligible for federal DFA.
The new program is meant to cover farmers who didn’t get federal DFA “because of their revenue level, number of employees or the business structure of their farm,” the province said.
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“Some farms had serious damage and did not qualify for the federal program. Our new program helps fill the gaps,” Agriculture Minister Greg Morrow said in a release.
The new program is separate from the Fiona Agricultural Disaster Assistance Program, which was open for applications from Nov. 24 up until its deadline Friday.
Farmers who filled out applications for the earlier program “have been, or will be, assigned a caseworker to help them access the new funding,” the province said Thursday.
As with the earlier program, applicants will need to be able demonstrate damage or loss incurred during Hurricane Fiona, which hit the province last Sept. 23 and 24. Applicants must own or lease the damaged property and be able to provide a partnership/ownership agreement if requested.
Farmers who haven’t filled out applications are asked to contact program staff by email or at 902-890-0542.
Citing data from Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. (CatIQ), the Insurance Bureau of Canada last month reported insured damages from Hurricane Fiona in Canada at over $800 million, which would make it the most costly extreme-weather event in Atlantic Canada and the seventh-largest in Canadian history.
The storm produced wind gusts of up to more than 100 km/h in Atlantic Canada and eastern Quebec, bringing torrential rainfall, waves, storm surges, downed trees and power outages. — Glacier FarmMedia Network
