P.E.I. offers $1 million in Dorian aid for farmers

The P.E.I. government has put together a million-dollar aid package for farmers whose crops were flattened in 2019 by post-tropical storm Dorian, after an application put forward by the P.E.I. Federation of Agriculture for 12 times that amount was turned down.

Some farmers welcomed the funding but said the amount — the equivalent of eight cents for every dollar that would have been covered if the initial application had gone through — will fall far short of covering the financial hit they suffered from Dorian.

"It's not going to come near close to what our losses were," said Robert MacDonald, a corn grower from Belfast.

MacDonald said 85 per cent of his corn crop was blown down when Dorian hit in September 2019. The crop wasn't a total write-off, but he said extra costs to harvest it combined with losses in quality and yield cost him $200,000.

Kyle Jewell of Meadowbank estimated his losses at $100,000.

"Probably like most farmers today, we're disappointed that it wasn't more, but we're, I guess, happy something came of it," said Jewell. 

"It caused a lot of strain on a lot of operations in the last 12 months and it's gonna leave a dent in finances for years to come."

Farmers must prove extraordinary expenses

The province says the $1 million will be made available to corn, tree fruit and crambe producers who can demonstrate extraordinary Dorian-linked expenses, with the money coming from P.E.I.'s current 2020-21 budget year.

"We're trying to work in our agriculture insurance fund that we have now," said Minister of Agriculture and Land Bloyce Thompson, saying he would meet with the Federation of Agriculture this week to develop a plan "to get it into farmers' hands simply and as fast as we can."

The federation has laid the failure of the initial application for assistance, made under the joint federal-provincial Agrirecovery program, at the feet of the federal government.

I mean, if a post-tropical storm that levels crops doesn't qualify for Agrirecover, I don't know what does.- Robert Godfrey

"They simply have not understood what it is that we experienced down here," said the federation's executive director, Robert Godfrey. "I mean, if a post-tropical storm that levels crops doesn't qualify for Agrirecover, I don't know what does."

Agrirecovery is meant to compensate producers for "extraordinary costs" incurred as a result of natural disasters.

In December, the federal government said that while Island farmers did face extraordinary costs as a result of Dorian, those could have been covered through existing programs including crop insurance.

On Tuesday, a spokesperson for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada said Ottawa and P.E.I. jointly assessed the initial application from the Federation of Agriculture and both sides agreed on the outcome.

If that application had been successful, the P.E.I. government would have been on the hook for much more than $1 million. Costs in Agrirecovery are split 60/40 between Ottawa and the province involved meaning P.E.I.'s share of a $12-million award would have been $4.8 million.

Thompson said the $1-million figure "goes above and beyond what we feel crop insurance covered. There's extraordinary harvest costs that aren't calculated in some of our business risk management programs."

Even before it began seeking relief for Island farmers affected by Dorian, the Federation of Agriculture had been asking for a review of the network of federal and provincial agricultural support programs.

"We're looking at asking for major changes to this program," said Godfrey.  "Programs designed to keep farmers whole aren't meeting their requirements. They need to change… and make sure that farmers get what they need when they fall on hard times."

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