Friday, October 24, 2014

Feds under pressure on farm supports


The federal government is facing pressure on a number of fronts to improve its support programs for farmers.

Manitoba is in negotiations over crop price supports.

And in Ottawa, Senator Pierre Ringuette is criticizing the government for a change to income support, called AgriStability.

It is no longer allowing farmers to claim family members’ work as an expense.

They can only claim payments for hired workers who are not family members.

Ringuette says the change is not fair.

The federal government administers AgriStability in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, but other provinces, such as Ontario, provide administration.