If you are a farmer, whether full-time or part-time, deadlines for program applications are important. If you don’t meet the designated deadlines, you may no longer be eligible, or you will incur a fine.
There are a lot of great programs available such as AgriInvest, AgriStability, and crop insurance to name a few. There are also many other grants available on a periodic basis depending on the type of farming you do.
As a farmer make sure you take advantage of all the available programs to maximize your profits.
Contact your accountant to learn more about program eligibility and required deadlines.
AgriStability
AgriStability is a program offering protection for producers against substantial loss in their farming income. This program helps offset a loss in income due to lower production, added costs, or a decline in market conditions. AgriStability is one of the many Growing Forward 2 programs offered to Canadian farmers. Any Canadian farmer who has reported farming income/loss to Canada Revenue Agency, or exempt under the Federal Indian Act, is eligible for this program, so long as they have completed a production cycle and farmed for at least six consecutive months.
If you were farming in 2015, and you not enrolled in Agri-Stability, you will likely have until April 30, 2016, to submit your application for the 2016 year.
Deadlines for the AgriStability 2015 Program*
- December 31, 2015 Apply for interim payment
- December 31, 2015 Pay fee – final deadline (20 per cent increase)
- June 15, 2016 Submit T1163 (individuals)
- June 30, 2016 Submit forms
- June 30, 2016 Submit Statement A (corporations, trusts and special individuals)
*available at the time of this article posting
ArgriInvest
“AgriInvest is a self-managed producer-government savings account that allows producers to set money aside which can be used to recover from small income shortfalls, or to make investments to reduce on-farm risks.“
Make annual deposits into your AgriInvest account and the Canadian government will match a percentage of your contribution: Contribute 1% of your net sales, and the government will match it to a maximum of $15K per year.
For example: A Niagara farmer’s annual soybean crop was $50,000 x 1% = $500 recommended contribution to AgriInvest . The government will put in $500 to match the contribution which equals a total of $1000 in the farmer’s AgriInvest account that year. Anything over that is great for a rainy day, but Agricorp won’t match it.
The objective of this program is to help farmers protect themselves against risks such as small income declines, as well as improve their market income.
Crop Insurance
The two general types of crop insurance include crop-yield and crop-revenue insurance. Crop-yield insurance can be purchased to protect farmers against low yield or damaged crops; i.e. natural disasters such as hail, floods, drought, etc. Farmers can also purchase crop-revenue insurance to protect themselves against loss because of a drop in prices for agricultural commodities.
See AgriCorp for examples of crop insurance plans available for crops; such as, forage, fresh vegetables, fruit and honey, grains and oilseeds, livestock and poultry, processing vegetables and other specialty crops.