Kenneth Brown
of The Crossroads

The province’s 2018-19 agriculture budget continues to meet the business risk management needs of producers while making a record investment in research.

The agriculture budget for Saskatchewan was announced on April 10 as part of the 2018-19 provincial budget. The budget included a $378.6 million overall investment in agriculture, and the investment includes a record $31.8 million in research and technology funding.

A total of nearly $258.2 million is being invested in business risk management programs such as AgriInvest and AgriStablity, along with provincial crop insurance and Western Livestock Price Insurance. Nearly $26.8 million is budgeted for other programs under the ministry of agriculture.

The budget includes an increase in funding to Animal Protection Services of Saskatchewan, a group that will see its funding increase from $610,000 last year to $800,000 this year. The budget also includes $3 million for irrigation infrastructure rehabilitation costs and for irrigation asset transfer to irrigation districts. In response to the damages from wildfires across southwestern Saskatchewan in 2017, the government has added fire insurance as an additional coverage feature for pasture land.

Lyle Stewart, the province’s agriculture minister, said the budget makes investments in three key areas including the business risk management programs, animal welfare and research and technology. Research funding is a highlight.

[emember_protected for=”2″ custom_msg=’For more on this story, please see the May 4 print edition of The Cross Roads.’]

“We’ve increased the research spending by $5 million or 18.7 per cent,” he said, adding that the $31.8 million is by far a record investment in research from agriculture budgets in the past. “That research pays huge dividends to the economy and the province, and to the (agriculture) sector.”

The $31.8 million for research is part of an overall investment of $71.2 million being made to strategic programs under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP) and CAP details were announced at the end of March through the new federal-provincial framework.

Stewart said research funding is distributed through the Agriculture Development Fund, so a board of directors reviews funding applications and decides where to invest the funding. He noted that the board has a tough job, but the members work hard to review the applications and they have shown “great judgement” in allocating the available funds.

The minister touted the increase to Animal Protection Services of Saskatchewan. There is also funding for industry initiatives such as Ag in the Classroom, Saskatchewan 4H, Cropsphere and Canadian Western Agribition.

At $258.2 million, business risk management funding is 68.2 per cent of the overall agriculture budget for 2018-19. The number is down from 2017-18 when $264.1 million was invested in business risk management programs. A majority of the decrease is from AgriStability and Stewart said the federal government comes up with forecasts for the jointly funded programs, so the province sets its funding based on the same forecasts.

The entire agriculture budget is down $10 million from $388.6 million in 2017-18. The funding to regional services has decreased by $6.2 million from nearly $38.3 million in 2017-18 to $32.1 million for 2018-19, but the decrease does not mean there are fewer regional staff out in the field.

Stewart said the savings comes from efficiencies. The ministry had offices in places where the regional specialists could meet with producers, but those meetings could take place right at the farm and the offices are no longer needed. He is pleased with the budget.

“I’m satisfied that this is a good budget for agriculture,” the minister said, adding that the budget both increases the investment where it makes sense and maintains spending in areas important to the agriculture sector.

Todd Lewis, president of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS), said he believes the 2018-19 budget was an austerity budget with no major surprises. He said the agriculture sector could be pleased because there are no major cuts to agriculture in the budget.

He noted that Saskatchewan has a history of supporting agriculture research. He said jurisdictions such as Alberta do not always make investments in research, but Saskatchewan has been consistent in its approach to research funding.

“Farmers certainly put their fair share into research dollars with their check offs,” he said, adding he believes both levels of government are strong supporters of research programs. “It’s good to see that the province sees the value in that and continues to put money towards it, so we were happy to see that and the continued commitment.”

The APAS president said he is also pleased to see the changes to insurance programs. He also touted the investment through CAP, a newer program designed to replace the Growing Forward program, but time will tell how the money is all rolled out. There are no major concerns with the budget, Lewis added.

[/emember_protected] research