Governments of Canada and Manitoba Announce Support for Livestock Producers Affected by Drought Conditions

The governments of Canada and Manitoba are announcing support measures to aid Manitoba’s livestock producers affected by drought conditions, federal Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Heath MacDonald and Manitoba Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn announced today.

Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation (MASC) will provide support measures through its AgriInsurance program, improving cash flow for livestock producers needing to secure additional feed.

“Our livestock producers play a critical role in our food supply and our economy. We need to do everything we can to support them, especially in the face of these dry conditions,” said MacDonald. “These program changes will ensure producers in Manitoba receive claim payouts faster, so they can source other feed options as quickly as possible.”

For claim calculation purposes, MASC will be applying a quality adjustment factor to reduce yield appraisals by 40 per cent for drought-stricken cereal crops (all varieties of wheat, oats, barley, fall rye, triticale and grain corn) that are converted to livestock feed. This quality adjustment was last implemented in 2021 and contributed to over 100,000 acres of grain crops being converted to livestock feed.

Changes for producers with AgriInsurance coverage on forage and pastures include:

• deferred premium deductions on payments for forage insurance claims made prior to Oct. 1;
• partial claim payments on forage insurance and pasture days insurance claims, when feasible; and
• ability for livestock to graze on insured forages after the first cut without impact on claim calculation.