March 23, 2004

 

 

Canada Announces $995 Million Aid Package For Cattle Industry

 

Canada Prime Minister Paul Martin announced a hefty $995 million aid package for the ailing cattle industry wrecked by the impact of mad cow disease.

 

Martin, said $680 million out of a $995-million aid package will go directly to cattle producers. "These are hard times," he said Monday. "And as these farm families face these kind of challenges we believe that the government must be there to help."

 

Producers hurt by the prolonged closure of the Canada-United States border to beef exports will get a payment of up to $80 per eligible animal on inventory as of Dec. 31, 2003.

 

That brings the total federal and provincial aid to producers hurt by the crisis to about $1.5 billion.

 

Neil Jahnke of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association said the money will have a ripple effect.

 

"This announcement today is not only going to put money in producers' pockets, it's going to help the small communities that service our agricultural industry," he said.

 

"But we all have to realize that the number one solution to this problem is opening our export markets."

 

The Canadian Federation of Agriculture said the program adopted one of its key recommendations - that the money go directly to producers of all ruminants, not just cattle.

 

The cattle industry was devastated after a case of mad cow disease - formally known as BSE or bovine spongiform encephalopathy - was reported last May in Alberta. Borders worldwide remain closed to imports of live Canadian cattle.

 

Industry losses are believed to have reached about $2 billion.

 

Live exports had been the mainstay of the Canadian cattle industry prior to the crisis.

 

The remaining $300 million from Monday's announcement will go to a grab-bag of agricultural support programs, the largest share of which is bridge funding until the new Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization program kicks in.