Farm Stewardship Program Supports Cow-Calf Producers in Protecting Surface Water

Released on July 13, 2021

Today, the governments of Canada and Saskatchewan announced a new beneficial management practice (BMP) for cow-calf producers under the Farm Stewardship Program.

Eligible beef cow-calf producers can now access cost shared funding of up to 75 per cent of project costs, to a maximum payment of $15,000, for the development of preventative run-off control measures.  Eligible projects include; holding or retention ponds for collecting run-off, ditches, berms or dykes and earthwork or pen regrading to achieve proper run-off.

"I feel for the many Saskatchewan producers dealing with moderate to extreme drought conditions across much of the province this year," Canada's Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Marie-Claude Bibeau said.  "Together with our provincial counterparts, we are working to build a sustainable future for our farm families, because we know farmers are on the front lines of climate change.  Producers can now access this program which will help them to protect their valuable water sources and support their adoption of sustainable management practices."

"As stewards of the land, producers take their responsibility to protect water sources seriously," Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister David Marit said.  "This program will provide additional funding for Saskatchewan cow-calf producers and assist them with making improvements to their operations." 

The Farm Stewardship Program provides Saskatchewan producers funding to implement BMPs in three priority areas - water quality, climate change and biodiversity.  The new BMP will encourage beef producers to implement surface water protection on cow-calf operations.

The Farm Stewardship Program is funded through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a five-year, $3 billion investment by federal, provincial and territorial governments to strengthen and grow Canada's agriculture, agri-food and agri-products sectors.  This includes a $2 billion commitment that is cost-shared 60 per cent federally and 40 per cent provincially/territorially for programs that are designed and delivered by provinces and territories.  More than $155 million of this funding comes from the Government of Saskatchewan.

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