Extension for Applications for Cover Crop Protection Program

April 14, 2008

Ottawa – Ted Menzies, Member of Parliament for Macleod and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance, is pleased to advise that the deadline for eligible farmers to apply for financial assistance through the Cover Crop Protection Program (CCPP) with respect to 2007 claims has been extended to June 30, 2008.

The initial application deadline was October 31, 2007. However, Menzies explained that the extension is necessary due to a late harvest in some regions of Canada, and as a means of accommodating more than 100 late claims and more than 700 eligible producers who did not apply for program assistance in 2007.

“The Government of Canada is listening to farmers and delivering real results,” said Menzies. “We want to ensure that all eligible farmers who were unable to plant commercial crops in 2007 due to spring flooding have a fair opportunity to apply for financial assistance.” Menzies added that the Cover Crop Program deadline has been permanently moved to November 30 to ensure that farmers don’t have to worry about the paperwork until their crops are in the bin.

The CCPP is a $140 million Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada initiative that provides insured farmers in Canada’s hardest-hit regions with financial assistance of $15 per acre to help offset the costs of improving and protecting flood-damaged commercial cropland. Eligible farmers who applied late in 2007 do not need to reapply prior to the new deadline; those who were eligible but did not apply in 2007 will be contacted.

Beginning in 2007, CCPP applicants were required to be enrolled in a provincial production insurance program to be eligible for financial assistance, and the program began targeting insured farmers in the hardest hit regions of the country.

On average, 300,000-600,000 acres of crop land are affected across Canada each year by excess moisture and flooding. The program provided financial assistance on 736,000 acres in 2007 for a total contribution of $11 million. The CCPP application deadline for this year is Nov. 30, 2008.