Manitoba
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Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives

 

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Risk Management and Credit

Business Risk Management (BRM) Programs

AgriInvest, AgriInsurance, AgriRecovery and AgriStability  are the risk management programs available under Growing Forward. These programs respond to producer demands for programs that are simple, responsive, predictable and bankable.

To find out more about these programs, visit the New Business Risk Management Suite.

Non-BRM Funding and Initiatives

The non-BRM programs are designed to complement existing BRM programs with a greater focus on supporting innovation, commercialization and profitability for the sector in the following areas:

  • Advance Payment Programs The Advance Payments Program (APP) is a financial loan guarantee program that gives producers easier access to credit through cash advances. This means improved cash flow throughout the year and better opportunities for marketing their agricultural products. A number of producer organizations across the country are delivering cash advances under the APP. These producer organizations are listed along with the list of agricultural products on which they are offering cash advances include:
    • Canadian Canola Growers Association
    • Canadian Wheat Board
    • Keystone Vegetable Producers Association Inc.
    • Manitoba Cooperative Honey Producers Ltd.
    • Manitoba Corn Growers Association Inc.
    • Manitoba Livestock Cash Advance Program Inc.
    • Manitoba Pork Credit Corporation

    For a list of contact information to these participating organizations click on this link.
     

  • AgriInsurance and Lending - Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation

Bridging Generations Initiative - First and foremost, MASC's primary lending objective is to assist young farmers. They are the lifeblood and the future of Manitoba's agricultural industry.
To support their success, the Bridging Generations Initiative (BGI) was introduced in 2002 as a 5-year pilot project, then aimed to assist in the transfer of farm assets between young farmers and retiring producers. In 2007, the BGI was expanded and made a permanent program of MASC Lending.

Manitoba's non-BRM programs include:

Innovation Suite:

The Innovation Suite supports products that create and develop new methods, products and technology that will improve Manitoba’s competitive edge in the agriculture sector. Projects are submitted in two categories:

I. Strategic Innovation: Supports investment in strategically important initiatives brokered by the province among government and industry stakeholders and targeted toward:

  • encouraging sector alignment in support of developing new innovation value chains especially by fostering collaboration among value chain participants;
  • building new capacity for innovation;
  • capturing specific innovation related opportunities in primary and/or value added processing;
  • solving strategically important problems in the agri-food sector;
  • promoting innovation and information sharing.

Programs and initiatives covered under Strategic Innovation are:

II. Industry Innovation: Supports investment in innovative projects brought forward by participants in the sector.
Programs and initiatives covered under Industry Innovation are:

Business Development Suite:

The Business Development Suite will focus resources in four broad areas that will enhance the business management skills and capacity of individuals managing farm and agricultural-product processing businesses. Target clients include farm and post-farm business managers, ensuring the inclusion of Aboriginal people, young farmers, youth, new Canadians and women.

Programs under Business Development are:

Sector Development Suite:

Northern Agriculture Program: The Northern Agriculture Program will support the development of northern agricultural systems, with the objective of increasing the volume and value of agri-food produced in northern regions. Funds will be provided to support initiatives that contribute to the increased production of nutritional foods by northern producers. Potential activities under this initiative include: agriculture extension support to remote communities; the development, testing and implementation of new production and marketing systems that make northern food products more accessible to various markets.

Food Safety Risk Management Suite

The Food Safety Risk Management Suite supports programs and resources towards establishing and implementing food safety, biosecurity and traceability systems in key areas of the food chain. The suite also aims to increase the food safety knowledge capacity of all industry stakeholders.

Programs under the Food Safety Risk Management Suite are:

Environment Suite

The Environment Suite supports two funding avenues: Environmental Action and Environmental Information.

I. Environmental Action improves the environmental performance and sustainability of agricultural operations. To do this, the program will provide funding for eligible Beneficial Management Practices that enhance agriculture’s capacity to reduce risk to water and air quality, improve soil productivity and enhance wildlife habitat.

Programs included in Environmental Action are:

II. Environmental Information supports the provision of environmental information to help decision-making and improve the sustainability of agriculture.

Programs include:

Activities include:

  • Soil Survey Program: Provide operational support (equipment, staff, etc) to create an inventory of soil properties such as pH, salinity or erosion and to map the distribution of these soil types in Manitoba to direct agricultural management practices. Farmers, government, conservation groups and commodity groups will be able to use the information to guide environmental farm planning, land-use planning, watershed management and nutrient management planning purposes.
     
  • Ecological Goods and Services Pilot Projects: The program will support research, modeling and evaluation of Environmental Goods and Services (EG&S) policy options to determine the most effective EG&S policy instrument for agro Manitoba. Different models for this program will be developed and tested on the Manitoba agro-landscape using agricultural landowners in selected pilot study areas.
     
  • Environmental Sustainability: Provides funding and technical assistance to a max of $50,000 per proponent to local producer groups and commodity organizations with an interest in agricultural sustainability to carry out applied investigation projects. The Agricultural Sustainability Initiative will support projects aimed to improve sustainable agriculture farming practices, transfer or sharing of technology and information, workshops and fact sheets. Capital items are not covered under this initiative.
     
  • Agro-Meteorology Information System: Monitors meteorology patterns throughout agro-Manitoba and develops decision-support systems through the use of real-time data dissemination that enhances risk mitigation and input efficiency tools for producers. The information uses include, but are not limited to: pest forecasting, stubble-burning authorizations and risk mitigation of weather-related threats to crop and livestock production.

For more information on Growing Forward programs, consult with the client service representative at your local GO Centre.

Contact the Farm Business Management Team