Ministers of Agriculture from federal, provincial and territorial governments met in Toronto, in November announcing significant progress on programs in the new business risk management (BRM) suite for farmers and other elements of Growing Forward, the new policy framework for Canada's agriculture, agri-food and agri-based products industry.*
Recognizing the importance of a smooth transition to Growing Forward, Ministers also announced they intend to seek the authorities needed to continue non-BRM programming currently in place under the Agricultural Policy Framework (APF) for up to one additional year. This would provide for a transition period while Growing Forward programs are developed and implemented.

The Suite of BRM Programs:
AgriInvest, AgriStability, AgriRecovery and AgriInsurance were announced in June and form a new suite of BRM programs for farmers.
Ministers agreed to seek authorities from their governments, and pending finalization and approval, to implement the following:
AgriInvest, producer accounts that provide coverage for small margin declines;
AgriStability, the improved margin-based program that provides producers with assistance for larger income declines; and
AgriRecovery, the disaster relief framework.

AgriInvest will replace the coverage under the Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization (CAIS) program for margin losses of 15 per cent or less. Through government and farmer contributions to producer accounts, it will provide producers with flexible coverage for small income declines as well as support for investments to mitigate risks or improve market income. With agreement on AgriInvest, the federal $600 million Kickstart for producer accounts can start flowing early in 2008.Provinces are seeking authority from their respective governments on the details of this program. Under this program, producers who make a deposit to their AgriInvest account will receive a matching government contribution based on a percentage of allowable net sales of eligible commodities. AgriInvest responds to the long-standing desire of producers for programming that allows them to better predict their government contribution in a given year.
AgriStability is an improved margin-based program that will provide farmers with assistance for larger income declines. It replaces the coverage previously available under CAIS, compensating producers when their margin in the program year is more than 15 percent lower than their reference margin - their average margin from previous years.
Ministers agreed to request authorities from their governments for AgriStability. Producers who participated in 2006 CAIS will automatically receive a notice with information on their fee. Others are encouraged to contact their program administration for information on how to participate. The deadline to enroll and pay the fee is December 31, 2007.

Ministers agreed on the details of AgriRecovery, the disaster relief framework which ensures rapid assistance for producers hit by smaller natural disasters - those that are regional in scope, have a relatively small impact on the Canadian industry, can be easily contained, and have few trade implications. Ministers committed to seek authorities to jointly fund these types of disasters on a 60/40 federal/provincial-territorial basis.
Ministers also discussed how their governments would respond in the case of larger natural disasters, ones that result in relatively large costs to governments, are national in scope, significantly affect the competitiveness of the Canadian agricultural sector, and result in potential health risks to Canadians as well as in significant trade implications. When larger disasters strike, ministers committed that their governments would work together to quickly address the unique circumstances and respond to the needs of producers.
Federal, provincial and territorial governments are continuing work to enhance production insurance plans under AgriInsurance to better meet the needs of producers.