You may all be interested in reading this story that was in the Co-operator today.
I wonder just how many calls they've gotten from people who said they just don't have the money to repay this.....
Staff
8/6/2010 7:41:00 PM
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Cattle and hog producers who have repayments owing under the federal Advance Payment Program (APP) have been granted a break on their deadlines.
"We are providing the extra time that will give producers the breathing room they need to seize market opportunities and improve their bottom line," federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, speaking in Saskatoon, said in a release Friday.
Eligible producers have been granted a "stay of default," which allows them to spread their APP repayments out over a longer period of time and avoid default.
Two new stays of default will take effect Oct. 1, the government said Friday. Producers can contact their APP administrators for more details and to establish new repayment schedules.
Cattle producers will get until March 31, 2012 to repay amounts owed, with regular repayments to begin eight months from the start of the stay.
Hog producers, meanwhile, will have until March 31, 2013 to repay amounts owed, with regular repayments to begin 18 months from the start of the stay.
Regular APP advances will continue to be available to producers who meet the program eligibility criteria, the government said.
"Allowing more time for livestock producers to meet their financial obligations makes sense and helps producers better manage their cash flow and take advantage of the best market conditions," Jean-Pierre Blackburn, minister of state for agriculture, said Friday while making the same announcement in Quebec City.
"Short-term measures"
Hog producers have recently been seeing better returns from the market, but several months of positive margins can't erase over three years of mounting debt, the Canadian Pork Council said in a separate release Friday.
"Without this extension producers would have been forced to repay the full amount of the loan in September -- a time when their ability to repay any significant debt is at its lowest," the council said.
Travis Toews, president of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association, noted in the federal release that the national and provincial beef cattle associations have been discussing the optimum timing of this deadline internally and with ministers and bureaucrats for months.
"This flexibility strikes a good balance of working to clear up outstanding amounts while allowing producers to focus on the future," said Toews, who farms at Beaverlodge, Alta.
Canadian Federation of Agriculture president Ron Bonnett, in a separate release Friday, said the CFA "has been calling for several short-term measures to address business risk management shortfalls affecting various farm commodities, and the APP extensions are a key part of this approach."
"The emergency advances under the APP provided a critical means of assistance when the hog industry was under unbearable economic pressure," Pork Council president Jurgen Preugschas of Mayerthorpe, Alta. said in the council's release.
"Today's announcement will further strengthen our industry by providing producers the opportunity and time to review their cash flow, manage their financial obligations and focus on farming."
I wonder just how many calls they've gotten from people who said they just don't have the money to repay this.....
Staff
8/6/2010 7:41:00 PM
Printer Version
Email Article to a Friend
Comment on this article
Related Items
More News by Topic
Livestock View!
i
i
Cattle and hog producers who have repayments owing under the federal Advance Payment Program (APP) have been granted a break on their deadlines.
"We are providing the extra time that will give producers the breathing room they need to seize market opportunities and improve their bottom line," federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, speaking in Saskatoon, said in a release Friday.
Eligible producers have been granted a "stay of default," which allows them to spread their APP repayments out over a longer period of time and avoid default.
Two new stays of default will take effect Oct. 1, the government said Friday. Producers can contact their APP administrators for more details and to establish new repayment schedules.
Cattle producers will get until March 31, 2012 to repay amounts owed, with regular repayments to begin eight months from the start of the stay.
Hog producers, meanwhile, will have until March 31, 2013 to repay amounts owed, with regular repayments to begin 18 months from the start of the stay.
Regular APP advances will continue to be available to producers who meet the program eligibility criteria, the government said.
"Allowing more time for livestock producers to meet their financial obligations makes sense and helps producers better manage their cash flow and take advantage of the best market conditions," Jean-Pierre Blackburn, minister of state for agriculture, said Friday while making the same announcement in Quebec City.
"Short-term measures"
Hog producers have recently been seeing better returns from the market, but several months of positive margins can't erase over three years of mounting debt, the Canadian Pork Council said in a separate release Friday.
"Without this extension producers would have been forced to repay the full amount of the loan in September -- a time when their ability to repay any significant debt is at its lowest," the council said.
Travis Toews, president of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association, noted in the federal release that the national and provincial beef cattle associations have been discussing the optimum timing of this deadline internally and with ministers and bureaucrats for months.
"This flexibility strikes a good balance of working to clear up outstanding amounts while allowing producers to focus on the future," said Toews, who farms at Beaverlodge, Alta.
Canadian Federation of Agriculture president Ron Bonnett, in a separate release Friday, said the CFA "has been calling for several short-term measures to address business risk management shortfalls affecting various farm commodities, and the APP extensions are a key part of this approach."
"The emergency advances under the APP provided a critical means of assistance when the hog industry was under unbearable economic pressure," Pork Council president Jurgen Preugschas of Mayerthorpe, Alta. said in the council's release.
"Today's announcement will further strengthen our industry by providing producers the opportunity and time to review their cash flow, manage their financial obligations and focus on farming."
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