A look back at 2021

December 16, 2021

A year of working to provide responsive and improved coverage

This past year brought a variety of ups and downs for farmers in Ontario. The growing season was favourable and yields were robust overall, but there were some challenges. Agricorp worked with the government and stakeholders to help farmers who experienced challenges by delivering new initiatives, supporting program enhancements and making it easier for farmers to participate in programs.

New initiatives helped farmers manage various challenges

Agricorp delivered multiple initiatives announced by the government this year:

• Three initiatives supported livestock farmers impacted by drought in northwestern Ontario by helping them with activities such as sourcing water and feed.
• The Winery Agri-Tourism COVID-19 Relief Initiative provided financial support to eligible wineries and cideries whose on-site sales were impacted while provincial measures were in place to stop the spread of COVID-19.
• The Eurasian Wild Boar Transition Assistance Initiative helped farmers transition out of the production of these animals.

Program improvements supported farmers

Enhancements to programs included three beneficial changes to AgriStability:

• The government announced the removal of the reference margin limit (RML) so that Ontario farmers with low expenses would see increased AgriStability coverage.
• Ontario increased the provincial support under AgriStability by changing the compensation rate on the provincial portion of payments from 70 to 80 per cent, starting with the 2020 program year.
• For 2021, the federal and Ontario governments announced an increase to the AgriStability interim payment rate for farmers in drought-impacted areas in northwestern Ontario, as well as for grape and ginseng growers.

Extended deadlines and more flexible program participation also helped

• New online registration for FBR made it easier for farmers to register their farm businesses. More than 7,000 producers successfully registered online.
• Refreshed renewal notice for Production Insurance made it easier for customers to find the important information they need to renew their coverage. The new renewal notice is shorter and easier to read, and the amount of paper mailed to customers has decreased by up to 75 per cent.
• New and improved online acreage reporting made it easier for farmers to report acreage with a tool that is mobile friendly and compatible with most rural internet speeds, with no form to download.
• More time was provided for program activities.