Governments Support Beef Farmers and Protect Food Supply Chains

Funding program will address Ontario meat processing disruptions caused by COVID-19

WOODSTOCK — The governments of Canada and Ontario are investing up to $5 million in immediate, emergency assistance to help the province’s beef farmers manage costs associated with the impacts of COVID-19 and to help protect Ontario’s food supply network.

Starting Monday, December 21, 2020, Ontario beef farmers can apply for funding to help cover increased costs of feeding and setting aside market-ready cattle due to COVID-19 related processing delays. This funding flows from an agreement reached by the governments this spring to support these producers, in a timely manner, in the event that processing disruptions impacted the sector.

“We care deeply about the well-being of our farmers and understand the repercussions that short-term capacity reductions have on livestock producers,” said the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. “This is another measure we are taking to support our cattle farmers and to continue to keep high-quality and affordable meat products available to Canadians during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“We are continuing to work with our farmers and all the agri-food heroes in our food processing network to help them meet challenges posed by COVID-19 and to keep a steady supply of safe and nutritious foods available for Ontario families,” said the Honourable Ernie Hardeman, Ontario Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. “This is just one of the many ways our province continues to support farmers during COVID-19 and builds on the efforts we have already made in working with the agri-food sector to address urgent needs.”

The Canada-Ontario COVID-19 Beef Emergency Feed Maintenance Initiative is being offered through AgriRecovery, under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership. The provincial contributions are part of Ontario’s Action Plan: Responding to COVID-19 which will provide funding support for eligible farmers. Additional details on program mechanics will be released soon. Agricorp will deliver the programming and receive applications.

“I commend the federal and provincial governments for moving swiftly to ensure this tool and funding support was made available to Ontario cattle producers to help mitigate the impact of the disruptions we’ve experienced at processing,” said Rob Lipsett, president, Beef Farmers of Ontario. “BFO is committed to working with both levels of government and our industry partners on other measures to help address the current challenges facing our sector.”

This funding is in addition to other supports launched this year to assist the agri-food sector in meeting challenges related to the COVID-19 outbreak. This includes:

a $4 million Meat Processors Capacity Improvement Initiative;
a portal to connect farms and other agri-food sector business with labour needs to job seekers;
creation of the $26.6 million Enhanced Agri-food Workplace Protection Program;
a commitment of $25.5 million to help minimize COVID 19 exposure risks in the workplace and support the province’s food supply chain through the Agri-food Prevention and Control Innovation Program; and,
a recent investment of an additional $50 million into the Risk Management Program, one year earlier than originally promised.

Since June 2018, both the federal and provincial governments have committed cost-share support to approximately 4,200 projects through the Partnership to help eligible Ontario farmers, processors, businesses and sector organizations innovate and grow.

Quick Facts

The Partnership is a five-year, $3 billion investment which includes $1 billion for federal activities and programs, and $2 billion in cost-shared programs delivered by provinces and territories on a 60-40 basis.
Ontario is home to nearly 6,800 beef farms. The province’s beef industry contributes an estimated $2.8 billion each year to the province’s economy and its value chain sustains an estimated 60,000 jobs.
The Canada-Ontario AgriRecovery COVID-19 Beef Emergency Feed Maintenance Initiative is delivered by Agricorp.

SOURCE: Province of Ontario