'Christmas coming early' for N.S. growers hurt by June frost

Farmers whose crops were wiped out by the late June frost in Nova Scotia may get access to some emergency financial assistance from a government relief program.

In response to the cold snap in early June, the federal and provincial agriculture departments announced they would allow more flexibility to join the margin-basedAgriStability program, which supports farmers facinglarge declines in income brought on by lost production.

The program offers payments to growersif losses top 70 per cent of average margin.

"It really is Christmas coming early to growers," said Angus Bonnyman, Christmas Tree Council of Nova Scotia executive director. "That will have a huge, huge positive impact on growers.

'Very low enrolment'

"There's very low enrolment across all of the different commodities. So it's going to be good for the farming community as a whole."

Bonnymansays Christmas trees aren't covered by crop insurance.

The late enrolment opportunity was announced yesterday by the federal Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Lawrence MacAulayand Nova ScotiaAgriculture Minister Keith Colwell.

Manyapple, grape, blueberryand strawberry farmers saw widespread damage to their crops and some are expecting significant reductions in harvest this year.

"It's going to help a little bit. It's not a panacea," said Bruce Wright, the president of the Grape Growers' Association of Nova Scotia, noting that benefits are reduced by 20 per cent forlate entrants to the program.

Many wild blueberry producers were too cash-strapped to participate in the program after the blueberry market took a downturn in the past few years, said Peter Rideout, the executive director of the Wild Blueberry Producers Association of Nova Scotia.

"I think it will be helpful for some for sure," he said. "It really depends. It comes down to a situation on a farm-by-farm as to whether it works."

Not a complete solution

It's only part of the solution for wild blueberry growers, who are also asking for changes to the crop insurance program to better suit the industry, said Rideout.

Some wild blueberry farmers lost their entire crop this year. Rideout estimates 70 per cent of the province's wild blueberries have been wiped out.

"The objective is to make sure we get these farm businesses out the other side of this serious loss," he said. "It's a short-term crisis for many farms in terms of being able to pay their bills and continue operating."

Blueberry farmers who grow other crops that weren't damaged by the frost, like Earl Kidston, may not benefit from the program.

"For our own personal situation, I question very much whether we can benefit from this, just because we've diversified ourselves to have a number of crops to give us our own little insurance policy if you will," said Kidston, one of the owners of Dykeview Farms and Nova Agri in Centreville, N.S.

"We've been in business since the early 70sand we've never had a severe frost like that in June before."

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