CANADA, March 23 - Released on March 22, 2023

This year's Agriculture Budget is $548.2 million, a 19 per cent increase from the previous year, with a strong investment in programs, services and agriculture research, as well as a fully-funded suite of business risk management programs.

"Supported by this year's budget, the industry is well-positioned to continue to take on the challenges inherent to agriculture and build on their success," Agriculture Minister David Marit said. "This budget will help Saskatchewan's farmers, ranchers and agri-business remain competitive and operate sustainably while continuing to deliver safe, high-quality food."

The 2023-24 Agriculture Budget contains $89.8 million for strategic initiatives under the federal-provincial Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, which will launch in the new fiscal year. The budget provides increased support for producers to develop sustainable agriculture water sources like wells, dugouts and pipelines, as well as increased funding for irrigation programming.

The budget includes $1.0 million to target invasive weed control on agricultural Crown land pastures, promoting continued productivity and stewardship of this resource and more than $38 million for agricultural research. 

There is $408 million to fund a suite of federal-provincial risk management programs including Crop Insurance and AgriStability. Average Crop Insurance coverage for 2023 is at a record-high level of $446 per acre due to increased commodity prices and yield coverage. The AgriStability compensation rate will increase from 70 to 80 per cent for the 2023 program year, to better support farmers in times of need.

Saskatchewan producers harvested a crop of nearly 35 million tonnes in 2022, with record agri-food exports valued at $18.4 billion.

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