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APAS News
Release Temporary Policy Changes Needed Immediately (Regina) - The Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) is today encouraging the provincial Minister of Agriculture & Food, Mark Wartman to immediately change the policies of the Saskatchewan Crop Insurance to support farmers needs in an extremely challenging environment. "The cold, business as usual attitude of the Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation needs to take a short hiatus while the farm income crisis is at its worst. Crop insurance operations in Manitoba and Alberta have enhanced their programs to reflect the challenges that producers in those provinces have to face; while In this province Saskatchewan Crop Insurance threatens the producer," stated Dave Brown, Vice President of APAS. "We cannot afford to have a competitive disadvantage with our sister provinces. We need progressive thinking, not bean counting. Crop Insurance must be in place before the producer can obtain their operating line of credit. To deny them insurance, because they haven't been able to pay all their outstanding premiums, may put them out of business. Crop insurance is also key to many producer's future as it also has a critical CAIS program linkage. Without insurance, producers would have a deemed benefit deducted from their CAIS payment." "We challenge the provincial government to introduce flexibility into programs to accommodate producers with no cash at this time. Government represents the people, how can a government that has a surplus budget ignore a segment of the population that is in great distress? This is not how you build the future in rural Saskatchewan. We need this government to build a new strategy for how they will help farm families and rural Saskatchewan," said Brown. "Make the necessary temporary changes to programs that will enhance and encourage farming, rather than enforcing bureaucratic policies that bring an end to farming operations. A good starting point would be the flexibility of this insurance back-payment commitment." APAS continues to lobby for significant change to agriculture policy that will improve sustainability for Saskatchewan producers. -30- |