SCOTLAND The provincial government on Friday announced a $130-million loan guarantee program to support Ontario’s 160 ginseng farmers.
The three-year pilot program will enable farmers to borrow up to $1 million against the value of their stored crops with the province guaranteeing up to 25 per cent of any loan portion that cannot be repaid.
“This new program will help stabilize and strengthen ginseng operations, ensure their long-term economic viability and growth and provide a boost for the community where they grow this world-renowned crop,” Lisa Thompson, Ontario Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs , said after a tour of the ginseng operation at Keresturi Farms in Scotland, south of Brantford.
“The ginseng industry is an important part of the agri-food sector in Ontario and the development of this programming is the result of months of discussions with our ginseng farmers about how we can help them given their unique growing cycle.”
The program gets under way April 1 and will be delivered and financed by the Agricultural Credit Corp.
Thompson was accompanied on the tour by Brantford-Brant MPP Will Bouma and Glen Gilvesy, chair of the Simcoe-based Ontario Ginseng Growers Association of Ontario.
“This is a good day for our growers who, over the past three decades have worked hard to build this industry,” Gilvesy said. “With the announcement of this program today, we’re confident that our growers are better positioned to manage these severe market conditions and we know we have the support of the provincial government.”
He noted that ginseng growers have been hampered by unfavorable weather conditions and have faced significant challenges because of he pandemic in reaching their primary market in China.
The industry has seen its cash receipts drop to $131.9 million in 2020 from $271 million in 2015.
According to information provided by the agricultural ministry, Ontario is the leading producer of ginseng in North America and most growers are located in Norfolk, Brant and Oxford counties.
“Agriculture is the single largest economic sector in Brantford-Brant,” Bouma said.
“I’m so pleased to be part of a government that recognizes this reality while appreciating and understanding the complexities and uniqueness of ginseng farming. Ontario-grown ginseng is world-renowned and this announcement will only strengthen the sector.”
He said the new program will help ginseng growers ride out unfavorable market conditions.
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Quick Facts
• Ontario is the leading producer of ginseng in North America.
• Ninety-eight per cent of ginseng farming operators are in Southwestern Ontario – with three counties having the largest concentrations of farms: Norfolk (65 per cent); Brant (24 per cent) and Oxford (five per cent).
• Ontario’s agricultural loan guarantee programs are industry-delivered and have safeguards to minimize the risk of a guarantee claim.
• The Agricultural Credit Corp. is a not-for-profit organization that also administers the federal Advance Payments Program and the provincial Commodity Loan Program to farmers.
Source: Government of Ontario