(OTTAWA) – The Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) is welcoming some of the measures announced in today’s federal budget. The budget reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to helping Canada’s struggling livestock producers with improved access to advance payment loans. The budget also offered some measures that will help farmers invest in value-added processing and in renewable energy.

The expansion of Capital Cost Allowance (CCA) deductions for investment in equipment and machinery for manufacturing and processing industries will be beneficial for farmers engaging in value-added production as part of their operations. The CCA measures have also been expanded to cover machinery for renewable energy generation, such as biogas production from agricultural biodigesters. The budget announced that GST relief for lands leased for natural resource exploration will be expanded to cover lands leased for wind and solar energy generation. These two measures will help agriculture play a greater role in the development of renewable energy.

“Assisting our hard-hit hog and cattle producers was a key priority the industry had for this budget and the government delivered,” said Bob Friesen, CFA President. “The Capital Cost Allowance and renewable energy measures will also be beneficial for farmers.”

The budget did also make some investment in biofuels, putting money into research and development and into a pilot project to promote E85 ethanol. Farmers have a strong interest in biofuels and welcome government investment in the industry. However the CFA would have liked to see additional measures to empower farmer participation in the biofuels industry and ensure benefits accrue back to the farm gate.

CFA is also concerned the budget did not contain any initiatives or commitment to promote investment and growth in the agriculture industry. In its budget submission, CFA proposed a Cooperative Investment Plan (CIP) – tax incentives to encourage investment in agricultural cooperatives, help co-ops raise capital, and direct investment back into rural communities. A CIP would have been a natural fit with the other tax measures contained in this budget. The budget also did not contain any reference or commitment to the ‘Growing Forward’ agriculture policy framework currently being developed by the government and industry, or any reference to the AgriFlex component industry groups want to see included in the suite of ‘Growing Forward’ programs.

“Today farmers want their industry to be seen as more than a crisis sector that needs to be helped. They want to be seen as a growth sector to be invested in. We would have liked to see more of that philosophy reflected in this budget,” said Friesen. “We hope there will be some flexibility beyond the budget to pursue some of these ideas. We look forward to speaking with Minister Ritz when he appears at our Annual Meeting this week to discuss how we can move forward in partnership on these issues.”