March 20, 2019 – For Immediate Release - The Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan is generally satisfied with the direction of the 2019 Saskatchewan Budget.
“We are pleased to see that the Provincial Budget preserves the programs that producers rely on, like Crop Insurance and agricultural research,” said APAS President Todd Lewis. “We are also pleased that the government listened to producer groups and re-instated funding for the rat control program.”
The budget also recognizes that our Province depends on a healthy and profitable agriculture sector, Lewis added.
However, Lewis cautioned that current trade, price and production risks, and higher costs like carbon taxes, could all impact producers negatively, and this might put Business Risk Management programming to the test.
“We have serious trade and price concerns about canola and pulse crops, which are our main revenue generators on the crop side, and dry conditions are a concern for the livestock and crop sectors,” he explained. “While we appreciate the level of support for Crop and Livestock insurance, there is a risk that producers may not be adequately covered due to the low level of enrollment in Agri-Stability.”
Lewis said that recent changes to reference margin coverage in Agri-Stability were not well understood and recommended that producers investigate the revised program to determine if new provisions could be of value.
“Our members feel strongly that we need to continue a thorough review of Business Risk Management Programs to ensure that our producers, and the economy as a whole, are protected from unexpected economic or production problems.”
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