This article is aimed at farm owners who want to keep abreast of government aid to help them finance and develop their farms.
Grants and programs often change name, eligibility requirements or terms and conditions. Everything changes so quickly. To keep up to date on the elements that directly affect your farming operation and its financial stakes, have you considered surrounding yourself with a team of professionals? At Amyot Gélinas, we have the agricultural expertise to help you stay on course amid these changes. Regardless of the size of your farm or the nature of its production (cereals, oilseed plantations, vegetables, fruit, floriculture, dairy farms, beef cattle, pork, poultry and other types of crops and livestock).
Agri-Invest and Agri-Quebec investment accounts
The first programs every farm operator needs to know about are the Agri-Invest and Agri-Quebec investment accounts. These are savings programs that allow producers to put money aside; simply put, you can deposit an amount into an account each year and receive matching government contributions (up to program limits). In many cases, new agricultural producers are unaware of these programs. Over a period of several years, these omissions can represent valuable sums that could have been used for your farming operation.
The AgriStability program
It’s not just the world of finance and subsidies that’s changing fast. Our climate is changing too. This factor has a direct impact on your production or profitability in most cases: lower yields, drought and disease are just a few examples of what can happen on a farm. Another interesting program in these situations is called Agri-Stability, which helps manage business risks. It protects Canadian producers against significant declines in farm income due to production losses, rising costs and market conditions. It provides a payment if your current-year production margin falls by more than 30% compared with your historical reference margin. In short, if you have a bad year compared with previous years, this program can compensate you. This will enable you to bounce back from this setback and prepare for your next season.
Stay on the lookout
As you can probably imagine, there are many other programs available to help farmers. These include various subsidies and tax breaks. The question you need to ask yourself is: am I aware of all the programs to which I am entitled? The answer is probably no, but our team at Amyot Gélinas is! We’ll be happy to support you with our expertise in this ever-changing world.
An article by Charles-Olivier Rochon, CPA
