Farmers need clarity when farm program material is designed

It’s a safe bet that farmers spend a good chunk of time on paperwork, and not just for taxes. A long list of possible funding programs and business risk management options are available to to smooth the farm’s financial future.

These programs are important, but it’s also a safe bet to say that no one likes paperwork, farmers included. Some applications can be exasperating.

If the people running the programs want farmers to use them, the program materials need to be concise and consistent.

That’s not always the case. Key messages in application forms can be left unclear. Instructions may be miscommunicated. Program details can seem unintuitive or even contradictory.

Let’s consider livestock price insurance (LPI), a federally funded, provincially delivered program that allows beef and hog producers to set a price floor in the case of a downturn in the market. With the ongoing threat of U.S. tariffs bottoming out the market, LPI has taken on a new profile.

I recently attended a Manitoba Agriculture webinar answering producers’ questions about the program. It highlighted the probability that many beef and hog producers are taking LPI policies out for the first time.

One of the misconceptions of the program, listeners heard, was that producers sometimes think that LPI is a contract.

It’s not, speakers assured. It’s a business risk management program, and producers buying an LPI policy are under no obligation to sell those cattle when the policy ends. They are, in fact, not obligated to sell those cattle at any time, and can actually buy more than one LPI policy (reflecting different windows in the value chain) on the same animal.

That dovetails with the LPI website, which says that “LPI won’t serve as a contract or marketing tool.”

A producer going further in the website, however, might justifiably end up confused. In at least one instance, the text does use the word “contract” to refer to LPI.

“Selling livestock outside of the claim window for the policy does not alter or void the contract,” the website states.

This is not a slam on LPI. We all sometimes uses words out of context or phrase things unclearly, myself included.

However, it seems increasingly likely that these types of programs will be part of helping producers weather the challenges and unpredictability ahead, and the programs need to see the demand for their services if they are going to justify themselves to policy makers.

Clarity sets both them and the producers they’re meant to support up for success.

Source: producer.com