Alberta producer organizations encourage the Government of Alberta to accept the current AgriStability proposal

Following this morning’s statement by the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau and the Honourable Jim Carr on the federal government’s proposed improvements to AgriStability, 11 of Alberta’s agriculture commodity and producer groups are requesting the Government of Alberta to accept the proposed changes.

Alberta’s producer groups agree the changes will provide immediate improvements to the program for producers’ benefit. While they recognize the proposal is not a long-term solution, these improvements offer interim changes while working towards long-term enhancements to the suite of business risk management (BRM) programs.

Alberta’s producer groups express urgency on the matter as the April 30, AgriStability enrollment deadline nears. Accepting the current proposal would offer Alberta’s producers meaningful changes that will serve as a bridge to the next policy framework in 2023.

On November 27, 2020, the federal government proposed changes to the AgriStability program by removal of the reference margin limit and increasing the compensation rate from 70 per cent to 80 per cent, adding $170 million dollars to the AgriStability program nationally.

Alberta’s producer groups have supported the proposed changes in the short-term while expressing the need for long-term enhancements to BRM programs for Canadian agriculture producers. Alberta producers are looking for clarity and collaboration between the provincial and federal governments to heighten the effectiveness of the current BRM tools available to them.

This press release is written collaboratively by a number of Alberta’s agriculture producer and commodity groups including Alberta Barley, Alberta Beef Producers, Alberta Beekeepers, Alberta Canola, Alberta Cattle Feeders’ Association, Alberta Federation of Agriculture, Alberta Pork, Alberta Pulse Growers, Alberta Sugar Beet Growers, Potato Growers of Alberta and Alberta Wheat Commission. These 11 groups represent a cross-section of Alberta’s diverse agriculture industry.