B.C. ranchers and farmers can now access the $20-million 2017 Canada-British Columbia Wildfires Recovery Initiative to help rebuild their livelihoods.

Application packages for extraordinary costs incurred by ranchers and farmers to recover from the adverse effects of this year’s wildfires are available at FrontCounter BC, Ministry of Agriculture offices, or at: http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/industry/agriculture-seafood/programs/insurance-and-income-protection-programs/bc-wildfires-agrirecovery-initiative

The initiative will cover extraordinary costs incurred by agricultural producers, including:

• Costs related to ensuring animal health and safety;
• Feed, shelter and transportation costs; and
• Costs to re-establish perennial crop and pasture production damaged by fire.

For further details, please refer to the application package, which outlines the terms and conditions of program and eligibility criteria.

The Ministry of Agriculture has dedicated staff in place to assist producers with the application processes, assessing losses and payment of claims. For more information, producers can call 1 888 332-3352 or email: agrirecoverywildfireinitiative@gov.bc.ca

Additional support for ranchers and farmers recovering from wildfires is available from the Ministry of Agriculture through existing programs, such as Farm Business Advisory Services. These programs can be accessed through 1 888 221-7141, by email: AgriServiceBC@gov.bc.ca
or online: http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/industry/agriculture-seafood/agriservice-bc

AgriRecovery is a federal-provincial-territorial disaster relief framework under Growing Forward 2, intended to work together with the core business risk-management programs to assist agricultural producers to recover from natural disasters. AgriRecovery initiatives are cost-shared on a 60:40 basis between the federal government and participating provinces or territories.

Supporting ranchers is one aspect of government’s comprehensive wildfire recovery plan. Recovery is focused on people and communities, economy, environment and infrastructure and reconstruction. More information on programs to date is available online at: http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/emergency-preparedness-response-recovery/emergency-response-and-recovery/recovery-programs

 More information:

AgriRecovery Framework: The 2017 Canada-British Columbia Wildfires Recovery Initiative: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2017PREM0079-001535

Governments assessing impact of wildfires on B.C.’s agriculture sector: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2017AGRI0048-001444

Support available for ranchers impacted by British Columbia wildfires: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2017AGRI0046-001405