The Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization program, popularly known as CAIS, was never popular. Not only did farm organizations criticize the program as ill conceived but the Auditor General accused Agriculture Canada of gross negligence in its administration, making errors totaling $70 million in 2003 and 2004.

Ontario CAIS payments were administered through Agricorp and not audited.

Over the last year, the government with producer input came up with a suite of four programs designed to replace CAIS (see other story on this page). We called farmers to see what they thought of the replacement for CAIS.

So far, farmers see little difference. The paperwork is still heavy and the forms haven’t changed.

Most would like to see still more changes, while some crop producers say high crop prices make the suite of programs look temporarily irrelevant.

Nonetheless, while the new programs aren’t perfect they received at least a C+ grade from the producers we talked to. Below is the review of the new programs by three farm leaders.

John Newman, past executive member of the Ontario Cattlemen’s Association (OCA), says this is the old CAIS program but modified to give money out more quickly. Under the CAIS program the producer would file a farm business return which would have taken him into 2009 before he received payment. Under the new suite of programs, he can get some of this money earlier but the program is still slow, Newman said.

The new program will take the place of ad hoc programs like those that have covered the BSE crisis and the more recent market collapse in the hog industry. The big problem here is escalating input costs, most notably energy and feed costs. Eventually, the farm has to earn a profit, Newman said. What’s more, caps on the program make the program inadequate for large producers.

The most significant plan put into place this year has been the emergency advance payment program, an ad hoc plan for beef and hog farmers suffering severe financial hardship. The government raised the advance from $25,000 to $400,000 with $100,000 interest free. Fortunately, money in the program was not tied to the income reference margin and cattle could be used as security. However, the money has to be paid back.

Don Kenny, a director with the Ontario Corn Producers Association (OCPA), likes some of the changes. He says incomes have been so low for so many years the reference margins for a payment to kick in didn’t work for grains and oil seed producers. Payouts were often low and a "one shoe fits all policy" wasn’t working. The OCPA sees the new program working better for other groups and has come up with a program called AgriFlex, a program that would provide equitable treatment across commodities and across Canada. The federal government has turned down AgriFlex, but both Alberta and Quebec grain and oilseed farmers like AgriFlex and are working on the federal government to change its mind.

Higher prices for commodities have done what government programs have failed to do, says Moose Creek crop farmer Alain Leduc. Negative income margins have disappeared and barring a crop disaster it is unlikely crop farmers will need the program for several years. Nonetheless, the OCPA recommends that crop farmers use the program. Prices are cyclical and one never knows when the market will come crashing down.

Kenny would like some tweaking of the program. He would like the government to allow a producer to have the choice of either using the best three years out of five or the past three years as the reference margin used to trigger a payout.

Kenny would rate the program an A if it had adopted AgriFlex.