The Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan is pleased overall with the provincial agriculture budget, released Wednesday.
The $660.8 million investment in ag, which is an increase of $37.4 million over last year, includes $89.4 million to support programs in the agri-food sector. Another $524.3 million will fund several business risk management programs such as Crop Insurance and AgriStability, and an additional $37 million was budgeted for research and the development of new technologies. The Province also had $200,000 earmarked for the expansion of rural mental health services.
APAS President Bill Prybylski says the overall budget increase was a nice surprise given past events.
“Most producers were half expecting to see cuts in the ag budget, particularly in light of cuts to the federal ag budget. To see the budget increase by some $37 million, that certainly was encouraged and it speaks to the importance of agriculture to the economy of the province.”
Prybylski says APAS’ wish list was nearly completely checked off with this budget, with the need for business risk management programs to be boosted being a priority ask.
“It’s something that is very important to a lot of producers, especially in these times with so much uncertainty. We’re definitely looking for some stability in these programs. and I think we saw that.”
The AgriStability program funding has doubled to $116.3 million, with AgriInvest seeing a rise to $46.9 million. He adds that the mental health supports for producers and their families was also a welcome touch.
“It’s needed. There’s a lot of uncertainty in the industry right now and a lot of stress for producers,” he explains. “It’s good to see that program will be there for producers when and if they need it.”
Looking at the budget overall, Prybylski says a deficit is never a good thing to see. “It’s not surprising, but it’s still a deficit. I guess we’re wait to see how it affects everybody.”
