Canada Reallocates Funds to Transform the Cattle Industry

Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Andy Mitchell today announced an important reallocation of funds from existing measures to support the transformation of the Canadian cattle and other ruminants industry into a profitable player in the domestic and international markets.

This adds momentum to changes already underway in the industry as a result of Canada’s $488- million Repositioning the Canadian Livestock Strategy announced on September 10, 2004 by Minister Mitchell.
“Our goal is not simply to recapture lost market share, but to move the industry to a new level of success. We are committed to ensuring that programs and services best meet the needs of the livestock industry and will continue to adjust as necessary,” said Minister Mitchell. “Our producers have worked hard to produce the best livestock in the world and they should be reaping the full benefits of that achievement.”

Provinces that had expressed interest in participating in the former Managing Older Animals Program before the application deadline will now be participating in the successor program.

Herd Management for Older Animals Program, specifically designed to provide the flexibility to provinces to address the selective culling of older animals. This program will be offered 60:40 cost shared funding to Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and some Atlantic provinces, the provinces who expressed interest, to assist in rejuvenating the Canadian herd through selective culling of older animals. Discussions continue with industry groups and stakeholders to address the aging national herd.

The measures also include funding of $17.1 million to help expand Canada’s slaughter capacity, with a goal of processing 100 per cent of the country’s livestock production. Important modifications to the Ruminant Slaughter Loan Loss Reserve Program are being made to address specific needs of the Canadian processing sector, including regional disparities in slaughter capacity and capacity shortages for animals over thirty months and other ruminants, such as sheep and bison and niche processing.

The initiatives announced today also include financial assistance of $10.2 million to offset costs to producer organizations that maintain infrastructure related to genetic improvement of breeding animals. This two- year funding will help organizations maintain the integrity of their services, while ensuring they are prepared to resume exports as markets reopen.

The Fed Cattle Set-Aside Program, a short-term transition measure to help manage the supply of animals going to slaughter will also be extended until the end of the 2005-06 fiscal year.

An additional $80 million reallocation for the disposal of specified risk material was announced in Budget 2005.

These measures follow on the $1 billion Farm Income Payment Program announced in March of this year by the Government of Canada to help our farmers deal with immediate cash flow pressures due to record low farm income, and will help to further the work on long-term changes in the cattle industry. Producers of cattle and other ruminants are expected to receive over $300 million under the Farm Income Payment Program. ©