The New Entrant Assistance Program’s goal is to assist passionate, knowledgeable individuals and families to begin dairy farming by lessening some of the costs of starting a dairy farm. This program accomplishes that goal by loaning dairy production quota to successful applicants. The program started in 2011 and has welcomed 12 new dairy farms into the province.
“Sustainability is a large focus for dairy producers, and these new guidelines are reflective of that,” says Tom Kootstra, chairman of Alberta Milk. “By supporting those individuals and farm families just starting out will help the industry in many years to come; it’s a long-term investment on behalf of all dairy producers in Alberta.”
Highlights of the changes to the 2015 New Entrant Assistance Program are:
- New entrants will receive up to 25 kg per day of total production quota (up from 15 kg per day) on a 2-1 proportional basis between owned and loaned quota to help kick-start their new business.
- The term of the program has been extended from seven to 10 years to offer greater flexibility.
All current and 2015 successful applicants will be eligible under these new guidelines. Alberta Milk will be accepting new applications from April 1 to June 30. Further details can be found on the Alberta Milk website.
More about the program
The program works by loaning quota based on a 2-1 ratio from loaned to purchased quota from Alberta Milk, up to a maximum of 25 kg per day at no cost to the new entrant. This loan translates to enough quota to milk about 20 to 25 cows. The loan gradually expires starting at the beginning of year seven and is reduced to zero at the end of year 10. While receiving this quota loan, new entrants can expand up to 70 kg per day of total quota holdings. PD
—From Alberta Milk news release
