A pair of initiatives worth up to $1.58 million will be used to help the poultry industry recover from the impact of the avian influenza.
The money will be used to help poultry producers in the province re-establish their operations and mitigate the impact of future risks following the avian flu outbreak in the Fraser Valley this past winter.
Langley MP Mark Warawa announced the funding earlier this month (May 8) in Abbotsford.
“These initiatives will help B.C. poultry producers deal with added costs of resuming business operations, while helping the poultry sector develop insurance options against future outbreaks,” he said.
“By helping B.C’s impacted poultry farmers recover the cleaning and disinfection expensed they incurred in helping to limit the viruses spread, we’re encouraging B.C.’s farmers to continue their hard work in providing local, high quality foods,” added B.C. Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick.
The initiative will also reimburse 90 percent of cleaning and disinfection costs incurred by the two small flock premises identified during the response.
This initiative complements AgriStability, which is available to provide support for income declines, including severe declines resulting from disease outbreaks.
In addition, the BC Poultry Association will receive up to $325,025 in federal funding under the AgriRisk Initiatives Research and Development stream to help the industry implement an insurance product that will cover poultry producers for costs associated with any future notifiable avian influenza outbreak.