Farm Development Division : Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada has administered various farm income protection programs since the late 1930s. Since the late 1960s, this kind of support can be traced from the Farm Development Division to the Farm Income Programs Directorate and related sections. The Farm Development Division, also known as the Farm Management Division, was operational from 1960s to the early 1980s, and formed part of the now-defunct Regional Development Branch of the Department of Agriculture. The division was concerned with improving farm business management, with the administration of a loan guarantee program for farm improvements and a funding program to increase livestock feed production in certain regions. Division responsibilities included the administration of the Farm Improvement Loan Act, under which the federal government guarantees loans that chartered banks and other lenders made to farmers.
After the late 1980s, the responsibilities of the division were moved to other divisions and departments, including the Regional Development and International Affairs Branch, the Production and Marketing Branch, the Farm Financial Programs Directorate, and then the Farm Income Protection Directorate. Farm Financial Programs Directorate was responsible for providing programs that would support the Farm Income Protection Act (1991) and the Farm Improvement and Marketing Co-operatives Loans Act (1987). Within the directorate, the Farm Debt Review Board, operated from 1986-1998; and the Net Income Stabilization Account (NISA) Administration operated from 1991-2009. The NISA administration was responsible, among other things, for the Agriculture Income Disaster Assistance (1998), the Canadian Farm Income Program (2000), and the Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization Program (2003-2008).
In 1998, when the Farm Income Protection Directorate was created, the Farm Debt Mediation Service and Farm Consultation Service became operational sub-sections of the directorate. The Farm Debt Mediation Service provides insolvent farmers and their creditors with mediation services pursuant to the federal Farm Debt Mediation Act (FDMA) and Regulations to help them arrive at a mutually satisfactory arrangement. Under FDMS, insolvent farmers could apply for mediation to arrive at a satisfactory arrangement with their creditors. The program's purpose was to provide an economical alternative to the often costly, drawn out and public process of resolving insolvency disputes in the courts. FDMS was managed by regional managers who hired financial experts to conduct financial reviews and qualified mediators to assist in negotiations between farmers and their creditors.
The Farm Consultation Service provided financial management counselling to farmers under two related services: a pathfinding/referral services, and direct (one-on-one) counselling to farmers who demonstrate need. Under the pathfinding service, farmers are referred to experts who are able to provide advice in areas such as business planning, financial management training, credit services, stress management, and rural extension. The counselling was provided by either an expert on the government standing offer list, or by a financial counsellor of the farmers choice (provided that certain conditions are met).
Currently, farm income protection is the responsibility of two sections of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's Programs Branch known as the Farm Income Programs Directorate and the Business Risk Management Programs Directorate.
