Victoria – British Columbia (BC) farmers and producers can still participate in AgriStability for the 2022 farming year and have until June 30, 2023, to pay their fees and secure coverage under the program.
AgriStability is a federal-provincial-territorial program that provides support to growers with large financial declines caused by production losses, disease outbreak, and increased costs or declining market conditions.
A severe avian influenza outbreak affected many Fraser Valley poultry producers in 2022, and some BC crop producers have also been dealing with production losses and revenue declines due to extreme weather events and abnormally cold temperatures. These challenging conditions were all factors in the decision to enable late participation in AgriStability for 2022.
For the past three years, AgriStability participation has been consistent in B.C., with approximately 2,100 farmers enrolled in the program for 2022, 2021 and 2020. The Canadian Agricultural Partnership agreement allows Canada and British Columbia to agree to late participation for AgriStability. The late participation allows BC farmers and producers to participate in the 2022 program as long as they pay their program fees by June 30, 2023.
“Allowing late participation in AgriStability will help more farmers manage the impacts of the many challenges they face on their farms. I encourage eligible farmers to take advantage of the support available to improve their situation and get back to what they do best – producing high quality foods.” – Marie-Claude Bibeau, Federal Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food