On Saturday, March 22, 2025, the Honourable Kody Blois, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Rural Economic Development, announced some changes to the AgriStability Business Risk Management (BRM) program in response to Chinese tariffs on canola products and the ongoing trade uncertainty with the United States. The Minister also announced a new option for provincial and territorial governments to issue interim payments at a higher rate and initiate Targeted Advance Payments for producers enrolled in the program. Note that the announced supports are only proposed and are not yet in effect.
The announcement made over the weekend doubled the AgriStability cap from $3 million to $6 million for the 2025 program year. While this is the first time in over two decades that the cap has been increased, CCA continues to advocate for it to be increased to $15 million and removed entirely in the case of a catastrophic event. We will continue to work with the federal government to make this change and to help increase uptake among producers. However, CCA is also pleased to see an increased compensation rate of 90% from 80% for 2025.
In this weekend’s announcement, the federal government also provided provincial and territorial governments with an option to issue interim payments at a higher payment rate and initiate Targeted Advancement Payments in the event of tariffs. For provinces that choose to exercise this option, producers enrolled in AgriStability will be eligible to apply for an interim payment of 75% of their estimated final payment of 2025 should there be sufficient loss to trigger AgriStability payments.
AgriStability is an optional business risk management program that offers protection against large declines that are beyond producers’ capacity to manage and threaten the viability of their farm or ranch. Under the program, allowable income includes the proceeds from agricultural commodity sales and the proceeds from production insurance. Allowable expenses include commodity purchases, along with direct input costs incurred in the farming operation. For Canadian beef producers, AgriStability would help to close the financial gap between the current price they receive for cattle from U.S. processors and the price they would receive under 25% tariffs.
The additional proposed supports announced by Minister Blois include increasing the compensation rate from 80% to 90% and doubling the current payment cap to $6 million for the 2025 program year. In addition, the Government of Canada has provided provincial and territorial governments with the option to proactively enter into an agreement to issue interim payments at a higher payment rate and initiate Targeted Advance Payments in the event of tariffs. This additional step would ensure producers receive funds sooner.
Any assistance to cattle producers during these uncertain times is a positive development. While CCA is pleased to see some changes made, we will continue to advocate for an increased cap to AgriStability from 3 to $15 million and its outright removal in the case of a catastrophic market impact such as tariffs. CCA encourages producers to examine all their business risk management program options as programs do vary by province and continue to evolve due to feedback from CCA and others.
CCA encourages producers to investigate and utilize Business Risk Management programs such as AgriStability to ensure maximum financial protection. Visit https://agriculture.canada.ca/en/programs/agristability to learn more about the program and how to apply.
Comments