Speaking at the Dairy Farmers of Canada annual policy conference, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Lawrence MacAulay highlighted the importance of a strong and competitive dairy industry and provided an update on the Dairy Farm Investment Program (DFIP).
“The Government of Canada is committed to improving farm productivity and efficiency,” said MacAulay. “The fact that a majority of applicants will have at least one of their projects supported under the Dairy Farm Investment Program is great news for Canada’s dairy producers right across the country. These investments are just one of the many ways the Government continues to support the dairy sector to ensure it remains strong.”
The $250 million federal program was announced on August 1 of last year. To date, over 500 dairy producers have been approved for funding support valued at over $23.5 million, in a wide array of projects from small investments in cow comfort equipment to large ones for automated milking systems.
Canada’s dairy sector drives the economy with nearly $24 billion in sales by farmers and food processors.
According to MacAulay, applications under the associated $100 million Dairy Processing Investment Fund are under review and projects under this program will be announced shortly.
Phase one of the program provides funding support in the first three years (2017-2020), while the second phase will cover the last two years (2020-2022) of the five-year program.
For this second phase, priority will be given to producers who did not receive funding in the first round. Producers whose projects are not funded in phase one will be encouraged to re-apply for the second phase.
(Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)
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