The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) welcomes the Federal Government’s announcement of legislation intended to help farmers gain greater access to credit and receive loans.
Prime Minister Harper said last week the legislation would guarantee an estimated one billion dollars in loans over the next five years to Canadian farm families and cooperatives. “The timing is right and will allow farmers to get involved in a number of initiatives recently explored by OFA,” says Bette Jean Crews, OFA President.
OFA hosted a summit for beginning farmers in March where overcoming obstacles such as access to credit was a focus. That summit determined development of business plans, accessibility to data bases and investing in long-term farming would also help farmers just starting out.
The OFA has been looking into the prospects offered by biomass production and its application as a source of energy to replace coal in the generation of electricity. The Federal Government’s announcement will expand the amount of credit available to farmers interested in moving into the biomass business, says Don McCabe, vice-president of OFA.
OFA works collaboratively with commodity groups and government to build a profitable, sustainable future for Ontario farmers, therefore, OFA is encouraged by the Federal Government’s recognition of agriculture as a good place to invest. “We will be pleased to work with the government and our OFA members to identify the most appropriate projects to make use of this money,” says President Crews.