Young Farmers Committee Notes from Meeting April 18, 2007 ...

Rob also noted that MAFRI Minister Rosann Wowchuk was going to be making
some program announcements for young farmers, which are outlined here:
* Establishing a new Young Farm Women Training Program aimed at empowering young women in
rural Manitoba to succeed in agricultural enterprises. The $50,000 initiative will include a series of halfday
training sessions offered at several rural locations. Topics will include financial management,
managing and marketing farm produce, insurance and human resource management. The program will be
administered through the Economy and Rural Development Knowledge Centre.
* Strengthening Manitoba's Young Farmer Rebate (YFR) program that assists young, beginning
farmers in reducing the cost of borrowing during the critical startup or expansion stages of their farming
operations. The maximum rebate available through Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation (MASC)
has been increased by 50 per cent. Clients aged 18 to 39 years are now eligible to receive a two per cent
rebate on the first $150,000 of a direct loan or Bridging Generations loan. Previously, the rebate was on
loans of $100,000. This rebate is received in each of first five years of the loan and is applied against
clients' regularly-scheduled payments. The maximum rebate available annually has increased to $3,000
from the previous $2,000 level. The maximum lifetime rebate has been increased to $15,000. The
increased rebate will help producers cope with ever-increasing farm input costs such as land and
buildings.
* Enhancing the province's Bridging Generations Initiative to make it easier to transfer farms from
one generation to the next and will help clients with cash flow pressures during the most critical periods
of their operations' development. The amount of financing available from MASC for young producers has
been raised to 90 per cent from the current 80 per cent on long-term loans such as loans for land, whole
farm or breeding stock.
* Expanding the Management Training Credit (MTC) to make the program available to all clients
under 40 years of age. The MTC provides clients with a credit of one per cent of the principal amount
borrowed, to a maximum of $2,500 per year, in each of the first five years of the loan. This change
broadens access to the MTC for young farmers by expanding the loan purposes eligible for the credit. The
MTC encourages farm-management training for young farmers in areas such as business and financial
planning, tax implications and marketing.
* Establishing a new Safe Farm Check program that will offer 60 producers a one per cent
reduction in their MASC borrowing rate, if their farms meet prescribed safe farm status. Clients will be
eligible for the interest rate reduction in each of the three years of the pilot program and will be received
by clients in the form of an interest rebate. The rebate will be applied against regularly-scheduled loan
payments and will be delivered co-operatively through MASC and Manitoba Labour and Immigration.
Participants will be provided with training, printed resources and in-person support to help them achieve
and maintain safe farm status. An evaluation of the pilot program will measure program effectiveness
and will gauge industry acceptance and participation.
* Creating a new Young Farmer Crop Plan Credit to provide a crop insurance premium credit of
$200 per year for up to three years to encourage young farmers to enroll in production insurance. The
credit will be available to farmers who are between the ages of 18 and 39 in the year they apply.
Applicants must prepare an annual cropping plan for each of the three years they are eligible for the
credit. The plan will be reviewed by the farm production advisor at their local GO Centre or GO Office by
May 31 of the applicable year.
Rob has also recently presented to the Standing Committee on Agriculture
during a hearing in Gimli. His focus was on the renewal pillar of the APF and
what programs and services may meet the needs of young farmers.