REGINA — The provincial government has confirmed changes to the 2026 AgriStability program aimed at livestock producers.
At an announcement at the legislature, Agriculture Minister David Marit said the government is being responsive to the sector’s requests.
Marit said that starting in 2026, for operations that rent pastureland for grazing, costs associated with the rent or lease of the land will be considered allowable expenses for AgriStability. The expense must be reflective of a reasonable feed volume for the animals grazed. In addition, Marit said that, as previously announced, permanent adjustments have been made to valuation for feed inventory change for livestock producers, for feed destined to be used on the farm and not sold.
“When feed prices rise, the value of ending inventories can increase, potentially offsetting losses of actual feed production. Moving forward, AgriStability will use end-of-year price, along with opening and ending feed quantities, to calculate the value of the inventory change.”
He also pointed to the deadline to enrol in the 2026 AgriStability program is April 30. To enrol, producers can request a new participant package by calling or emailing the SCIC AgriStability call centre.
Marit said while the changes had been announced previously, what is different now is that they are official, along with the timeline for implementation.
“When I looked at the details around the program, I really do like what they've done. Obviously, the producer will just have to say how much product he has on his operation in the spring, and then they'll do an evaluation in the fall as well. So then because the price will change depending if there's a drought or anything else, or if there's lots of feed, we know the fluctuation in the price of feed… this is something that we as a government have been advocating for for a few years now, and now we've finally got it across the line and approved with the federal government as well.”
Jolene Shea, vice-chair of the Saskatchewan Cattle Association, said her association appreciates “the announcement of the enhancements to the AgriStability Program and these improvements will help Saskatchewan producers more effectively manage their risks. And strong risk management programs are essential for Saskatchewan cattle producers to remain competitive and resilient.”
Bill Huber, president of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities, also welcomed the changes.
“This is something that we've been lobbying for, for a number of years, to have changes to the eligible costs.
"And it's just a good example to say that they listened to us, they heard us, and they listened. And that's always encouraging. There's still things that could be changed going forward in the years ahead that'll help improve things. And it's certainly great to know that we have ears that hear us and they respond and kind of react to the producers' needs.”
Chad McPherson, general manager of the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association, said, "The changes announced today have been something we've been lobbying on for quite a while to make the AgriStability Program more useful to Saskatchewan farmers and ranchers. It just makes the program overall more reflective of all the costs that producers have on their operations.”
