The Rural Voice, 1987-12, Page 251
load, and feared that the equity -based
proposal would discriminate in favour
of the well to do. He calls Farm -Start
a program that his organization could
"fully endorse."
Bruce County Federation of
Agriculture president Grant Collins
has also expressed enthusiasm for
Farm -Start. He says he hopes that
with more people looking to invest in
a farm operation, the market will pick
up for those farmers considering
retirement. "The time is as right as
it can be to get in," he says. "Land
prices are probably as low as they
can go."
But who will these new farmers
be? OMAF offices throughout the
province report that interest in the
program is high, and there will be a
rush for the application forms due out
December 1. The grant, parcelled out
in flat -rate payments decreasing from
$11,000 in year one to $1,000 in year
seven, has fuelled the imagination of
many would-be farmers.
QUALIFICATION
ONE
Qualification one is that the
applicant be a Canadian citizen or
permanent resident and have lived in
Ontario at least five years.
QUALIFICATION
TWO
Qualification two is that the
applicant be a beginning farmer. He
or she must never have owned a viable
farm or spent the majority of time or
earned the majority of income farming
assets over which he or she has had
control by leasing, renting, owning,
etc.
These requirements bluntly rule
out current farmers. According to
Nancy Bardecki, director of the agri-
culture ministry's Farm Assistance
Branch, they would also seem to rule
out those presently owning a farm,
whether they have been working the
land or not. If you buy, or have
bought, a farm before January 1, 1988,
you are ineligible for Farm -Start. This
is why, Bardecki says, the program
was announced early, before the final
details were set or the applications
available.
The program, Bardecki adds, is
not designed to induce the guy who
spends weekends at his country place
to give up his day job. "But," she
explains, "it does not necessarily
exclude someone who presently owns
a piece of land with no existing farm
buildings."
The ministry does wish to attract
the sons and daughters of the farm
community into farming. Any farm
kid seriously interested in farming
might, by the time he or she is ready
for the program, have already earned a
majority of income from farming
assets under his or her control. (Many
college tuitions are accumulated by
keeping half a dozen steers in Dad's
barn.) But in these cases, allowances
will be made. The program will rec-
ognize an "implied wage" in certain
situations where food and housing
were made available in lieu of wages
for work done around the family farm.
QUALIFICATION
THREE
Qualification three is that the
applicant have equity in farm assets of
between 10 per cent and 75 per cent.
This qualifier is a bit ambiguous.
It is not expected or required that the
beginning farmer rush out and buy all
the equipment needed or the land
required to operate a viable farm.
The leasing of land or equipment and
the hiring of custom labour are all
acceptable components of the Farm -
Start operation. "Concerns over the
equity factor," Bardecki says, "should
not discourage any applicants. It is
not a cornerstone of the program."
The grant will, however, be
reduced by five cents annually for
every dollar by which the net worth of
the applicant exceeds $300,000. In
other words, if your net worth at the
time of acceptance into the program is
$310,000, your grant will be reduced
by $500 ($10,000 times $.05) in each
of the se 'en annual payments. Any
change ir. net worth after acceptance
will not alter the initial assessment.
QUALIFICATION
FOUR
Qualification four is that the
applicant have agricultural education,
experience, or a combination of the
two sufficient to operate a successful
farm business.
To determine who is likely to be
the successful farmer of the future, the
provincial government has devised a
point -score system. According to
Bardecki, the best candidate will have
a combination of hands-on farm ex-
perience and business experience. An
agricultural education will, of course,
be considered as having merit, but will
not in itself qualify the graduate for
Farm -Start.
The exact weighting and balancing
of the system are not yet known; it is
possible that the applicant's credibility
in terms of becoming a successful
farmer might involve such things as
the ability to repair farm machinery
or an understanding of agricultural
commodity futures.
For those who do not attain the
needed score, however, a unique pre-
registration period is built into the
Farm -Start Program. Anyone who fits
the definition of "beginning farmer"
may apply at a local OMAF office to
have that status affirmed and protected
for up to three years.
During this voluntary establish-
ment period, the applicant may buy
land or begin a farming operation
without jeopardizing his or her begin-
ning farmer status. The candidate is
not guaranteed access into the pro-
gram, but if during this time he or she
can prove an ability to meet all the
other qualifications, the education/
experience requirement will be
waived.
QUALIFICATION
FIVE
Qualification five is that the
applicant become a bona fide farmer.
That is, he or she must generate a
significant contribution to family
living on an accrual basis before
Farm -Start or other temporary grants
are considered.
Herein lies the heart of the Farm -
Start program and it is important to
recognize how a bona fide farmer is
being determined. The judgement is
not according to the gross value of the
product sold, as is the case with the
current Farm Management, Safety and
Repair Program. Nor is it tied into
DECEMBER 1987 23