January 19, 2016
Regina: The Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) is asking for producer input in developing more effective business risk management programming that meets future industry needs.
“Governments are beginning to review the current suite of Business Risk Management programs offered under Growing Forward 2, in preparation for new programs beginning in April 2018. Farm organizations need to have the best information available, so that producers have a say in how these programs can be made relevant to producers. ” says Norm Hall, APAS President.
“The current programs expire in 2 years. We have heard many comments that producers have lost confidence in the value of current programs and the number of producers in AgriStability appears to be steadily declining. APAS launched this survey to better understand producers’ experiences and to use the feedback to set our direction for the next generation of business risk programs.”
Growing Forward 2 is a joint Federal, Provincial, Territorial agreement that provides the framework for a comprehensive list of farm programs, including business risk management. The APAS Farm Program Survey focuses on Crop Insurance, AgriStability and AgriInvest. The purpose of the survey is to better understand which programs producers are using, whether coverage levels are adequate to reduce risk, and what enhancements or redesigns are needed to better fit the needs of Saskatchewan’s diverse farm operations today and in the future.
“The survey is designed to collect input from all of the commodity sectors and various types of farm operations from across the province,” Hall says. “Our goal is to have a large and representative sample size to take to the Canadian Federation of Agriculture Annual Meeting in February. We are asking producers to go to the APAS website, complete the 3 minute survey and provide us with their views. APAS is asking for input today to enhance our advocacy for more meaningful programs for tomorrow’s farmers.”
The online version of the APAS Farm Program is located conveniently on the front page of the APAS website: www.apas.ca
Producers can also contact us at (306)-789-7774 to obtain a copy of the survey by mail or fax.
APAS is Saskatchewan’s general farm organization formed to provide farmers and ranchers with a democratically elected, grassroots, non-partisan, producer organization based on rural municipal boundaries. As the united voice of thousands of agricultural producers in Saskatchewan, we strive to represent the views of a wide variety of agricultural stakeholders in order to form comprehensive policies that can benefit all sectors of society.
For more information, please call Norm Hall, APAS President, Telephone: 306.530.3886