Ontario is increasing damage compensation for farmers

Ontario is increasing the compensation farmers can access for damage caused by predatory wildlife. Through the new Wildlife Damage Compensation Program livestock producers will receive improved compensation when their livestock or poultry are injured or killed by predatory wildlife.

PHOTO CREDIT - Gov.on.ca

Cornwall - Jul. 1, 2011 - Ontario is increasing the compensation farmers can access for damage caused by predatory wildlife.

Through the new Wildlife Damage Compensation Program livestock producers will receive improved compensation when their livestock or poultry are injured or killed by predatory wildlife or when bee colonies, beehives or beehive equipment are damaged by wildlife.

The new program expands the current list of wildlife species and variety of livestock that farmers can be compensated for, and increases the maximum compensation rates for farmers. It also:

Provides a $30 reimbursement for each claim a municipality processes; Provides a $50,000 fund for strategic investments with industry to better understand how to prevent agriculture-wildlife conflicts; and Commits to reviewing the program every two years to ensure it is up-to-date.

The Wildlife Damage Compensation program is part of Growing Forward, a joint federal-provincial-territorial initiative.



“This new program is a positive example of cooperation between governments and industry to create effective business risk management programs that benefit the sector as a whole. This program will help farmers recover from and prevent losses caused by wildlife,” said Gerry Ritz, Federal Minister of Agriculture.