Agricultural producers affected by the wildfires of 2018 are eligible to receive funding, according to an Oct. 5 press release from the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako.
The 2018 Canada-British Columbia Wildfire Recovery Initiative will provide up to $5 million to assist agricultural producers with the extraordinary costs incurred to recover from the adverse effects of this year’s wildfires.
The initiative is cost-shared between the federal and provincial governments on a 60-40 per cent ratio. It is intended to help farmers and ranchers with the extraordinary expenses necessary for recovery, enabling farms and ranches to return to production as quickly as possible.
Areas of assistance include:
Costs related to ensuring animal health and safety;
Feed, shelter and transportation costs;
Costs to re-establish tame perennial forage, damaged by the fires.
Other eligible costs include fencing, irrigation equipment repair, veterinary costs, replacement of bees and hives lost to fire and rentals of “specialized facilities”.
Farmers and Ranchers are encouraged to review 2018 Canada-British Columbia Wildfire Recovery Initiative for application details. Dedicated personnel are in place to assist producers with the application process, as well as verifying damages, losses and the arrangements for payments.
Any questions should be directed to the B.C. Wildfires AgriRecovery Initiative for 2018.
Business Risk Management Branch, 200, 1690 Powick Road, Kelowna, BC, V1X 7G5, Telephone 1-888-332-3352 or email AgriRecoveryWildfireInitiative@gov.bc.ca.
