Governments commit support to help Alberta producers deal with bovine tuberculosis quarantine

November 30, 2016 – Ottawa, Ontario – Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Federal Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Lawrence MacAulay, and Alberta Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Oneil Carlier today announced that producers experiencing extraordinary costs due to bovine tuberculosis (bovine TB) quarantine measures will be eligible for financial assistance under the AgriRecovery Framework.

The 2016 Bovine Tuberculosis Assistance Initiative will provide assistance to producers to cover the extraordinary costs they are facing as a result of the quarantine measures. This includes feeding and water infrastructure, feed for the animals, transportation, cleaning and disinfection as well as interest costs on loans due to the circumstances. Governments will be working with the industry in the coming days on the program specifics to ensure the program meets producers’ needs while being delivered in a simple and timely manner.

In the meantime, producers can continue to access immediate help to address cash flow pressures through the Advance Payments Program. Under APP, producers are eligible for an advance up to $400,000, with the first $100,000 being interest free.

For more information, producers should contact Agriculture Financial Services Corporation toll free at 1-877-899-2372 or by email at info@AFSC.ca.

Quick facts

• The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) notified the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) that a case of bovine tuberculosis (bovine TB) had been detected in a Canadian cow when it was slaughtered in the USA. The cow was from Alberta.
• The Government of Canada is committed to protecting human and animal health, and has launched a full disease investigation.
• Generally, findings of bovine TB do not pose a threat to public health in the Canadian context. This is due to the extremely low prevalence of the disease in Canada.
• The federal-provincial-territorial (FPT) cost-shared suite of Business Risk Management (BRM) programs can assist producers experiencing severe income declines due to quarantine measures. AgriRecovery was designed as an FPT disaster relief framework intended to work together with the core BRM programs to help agricultural producers recover from natural disasters.
• The 2016 Bovine Tuberculosis Assistance Initiative funding is pending the provincial government finalizing program authorities.
• Producers may also be eligible for compensation through CFIA under the Health of Animals Act for animals ordered destroyed; other things ordered destroyed, such as contaminated feed or animal products; and the disposal costs of animals ordered destroyed.
• Federal and provincial government officials are continuing to monitor the situation in Saskatchewan.

Quotes

Related products

• Growing Forward 2 – Business Risk Management Programs (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)
• Information on how to request an APP advance is available through an Advance Payment Program Administrator.
• For more information concerning bovine TB please visit the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

Contacts

Guy Gallant
Director of Communications
Office of the Honourable Lawrence MacAulay
613-773-1059

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Renato Gandia
Press Secretary
Agriculture and Forestry
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Renato.gandia@gov.ab.ca