The Ontario government unveiled a $100-million increase to its Risk Management Program (RMP), which also includes the Self-Directed Risk Management Program (SDRM), during an announcement made in Eden, Ont. on Tuesday, January 28, 2025.
Officials said the investment will be phased in over the next three years and will bring the annual funding from $150-million to $250-million by 2027, starting with a $30 million increase in 2025.
The RMP for beef, pork, sheep, veal and grain farmers, and the SDRM for fruit and vegetable growers, is a provincial insurance program designed to help Ontario farmers manage risks tied to unpredictable markets (such as sudden price drops for livestock and field crops), adverse weather conditions, and other uncontrollable factors that can disrupt production and profitability.
Mark Eddy, a local cattle farmer who is enrolled in the RMP, said that farmers who participate in the program pay premiums based on their production levels and the amount of insurance coverage they require.
“It’s not like a free hand out from the government or anything like that. Each year you pay a premium and it enrolls you in the RMP so it’s kind of farmer-funded as well, but it was always under funded so this is good news,” he said. “The RMP kind of just ensures a bit of economic stability for the farmers when things happen that are out of your control. You never know what’s going to happen out in the world, let alone production issues on the farm, and so it kind of takes a little bit of that risk out of the market, and makes farming more sustainable for us long term.”
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