An extra requirement is coming for the AgriInvest program for 2025. Producers with allowable net sales of a million dollars or more per year will require an environmental assessment to receive the matching government contribution.

The change in AgriInvest came out of the federal/provincial/territorial agriculture ministers meeting two years ago, but details are just now available.

Under AgriInvest, a producer contributes one per cent of the farm’s allowable net sales and receives a matching government contribution. The program is capped at $1 million per farm, which with a 1 per cent contribution rate means a maximum matching contribution of $10,000. Starting in 2025, farms with allowable net sales of a million or more over the previous three years, before applying the limit, will need to have an approved environmental assessment to get the government money.

Various assessments meet the criteria including 4R designation, Nutrient Management Plans, sustainable beef production standards as well as organic certification.

In this province, a Saskatchewan Agri-Environmental Risk Assessment has been developed and producers who complete that can use it as a declaration up until 2028. Producers impacted by the AgriInvest change will be receiving letters of explanation from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.