Suite of financial supports roll out for N.S. agriculture sector hit hard by Fiona

The Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture says provincial money to help resource industries recover from post-tropical storm Fiona is welcome news.

“This announcement highlights the importance that was placed on the concerns and impacts brought forward by our farmers, industry partners, and the Federation,” said Katherine Tuttle, communications coordinator with the federation, in an email to CTV News.

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston announced Friday a bundle of financial supports for the agriculture and forestry sectors.

“Our resource-based sectors are critical to the health of our economy, especially in rural Nova Scotia,” said Houston in a government news release. “They need our support right now as they recover and rebuild after the storm.”

The province says relief programs for the agriculture sector include:

• A one-time grant of $2,500 that will be sent automatically to registered farms in central, northern and eastern Nova Scotia that experienced financial losses because of infrastructure or crop damage, livestock loss or extended power outages due to the hurricane.
• The government is also providing $6 million through the Agricultural Response Program to cover extraordinary operational costs incurred because of the storm. Up to $9 million more will be available if needed in the weeks and months ahead.

According to the province, the Nova Scotia Crop and Livestock Insurance Commission is waiving interest on overdue accounts for September. While the Nova Scotia Farm Loan Board is offering clients deferrals on payments and making working capital loans with lower interest available.

There are also federal-provincial cost-shared relief programs for the agriculture sector, says the province. Those include:

• The new On-Farm Electrical Interruption Program that provides $500,000 in federal and provincial funding through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership. It helps offset costs to farm owners who installed a backup electrical generator immediately before hurricane Fiona or during the extended power outages that it caused.
• AgriInsurance, which provides crop insurance for naturally occurring production losses. Hurricane damage is an insured event for those enrolled in the program.
• AgriStability that provides protection for income losses of more than 30 per cent. Farm businesses enrolled in the program can apply for an interim payment of 75 per cent of their estimated benefit.
• The AgriRecovery Framework which focuses on "extraordinary" costs producers face in recovering from disasters. The Province says it has requested an AgriRecovery assessment by the federal government to determine what support is needed.
• AgriInvest -- a government-matched producer saving program. Producers can access any accumulated funds in their AgriInvest accounts at any time to address immediate needs.

The province says it is also spending up to $4.6 million to help private woodlot owners clean up blown-down trees, and ones left leaning, weakened or vulnerable by post-tropical storm Fiona in preparation for reforestation. The province says this includes:

• $150,000 that will help the Department acquire satellite imagery to help assess damage
• up to $3.45 million to help with commercial tree cleanup and secure a third-party organization to oversee this financial assistance; the organization’s work will include assessing damage to determine eligibility and doing post-cleanup inspections before disbursing funding
• up to $500,000 to help with the repair of washed-out access roads, culverts and bridges
• up to $500,000 to help with re-establishing boundary lines.

The province says there will be a cap, yet to be determined, on the amount of money a landowner can receive.

The government says the Department of Natural Resources and Renewables expects to have a third-party organization in place to start working with woodlot owners in early November.

The province says more eligibility and application information will be posted online as it becomes available.