Manitoba's largest farm organization supports a number of the initiatives presented in the recently announced federal budget.

 Yesterday’s budget promised to add new money to existing investments to make high-speed internet access in rural communities a reality. President Bill Campbell says KAP has long called for this.

“It’s my understanding between $5 billion and $6 billion will be added in order to improve connectivity to over 900 communities in Canada with more than 200,000 kilometres of advanced fibre networks,” he said. “This will help farmers who are now limited in the innovative technology they can access because of poor internet service.”

Campbell says another positive in this year’s budget is support for farmers in the supply-managed sectors who were forced to give up market share under the recent new trade agreements. These sectors include dairy, poultry and eggs.  The $2.15 billion announced will help them address income losses.

Campbell also noted the federal government has committed to look at the exemptions on farm fuel.

“When the carbon tax was announced, we were told there would be an exemption on farm fuel,” he said. “However, we recently we found out that only fuel delivered to the farm is exempt, but not that accessed from a cardlock system. This system allows farmers to get fuel from unmanned fuel stations, which is often more efficient.”

KAP will also continue to lobby for carbon tax exemptions on fuels used for grain drying, and heating and cooling of farm buildings, because these taxes will add very considerable amounts to farm expenses.