Ontario’s Feeder Cattle Loan Guarantee Program just got another shot in the arm.
Ontario Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs minister Carol Mitchell says the amount of support available to farmers is increasing to 130 million dollars — up from 80 million.
The Huron Bruce MPP made the announcement Thursday before a handful of farmers and media on the farm of Steve Eby, Concession 9 in the former Kincardine Township.
Eby says the co-operative program helped him get started on his 300-acre farm where he has some 800 head of cattle.
He says the loan guarantees have helped him develop more quickly as an ag business.
Mitchell says some farmers can get up to 250 thousand dollars in loans that must be paid back with a low interest rate.
She says the increase in money available comes after listening to young farmers who said they needed help getting started in the industry.
Meanwhile, the president of the Ontario Cattlemen’s Association Curtis Royal says the program started out with a 35-million-dollar loan guarantee and has now ballooned to 130-million.
Royal says it isn’t easy getting started in the cattle business and this money will go a long way in attracting younger farmers.
Feeder cattle are steers or cows mature enough to be placed in a feedlot where they will be fattened prior to slaughter.
