- 1. What this program offers
- 2. Eligibility
- 3. Before you apply
- 4. How to apply
- 5. After you apply
- Contact information
1. What this program offers
Intake period: Open
The Price Pooling Program is offered at no cost and provides a price guarantee to protect marketing agencies and their producers from market price declines. The program is delivered through marketing agencies. Producers cannot apply directly or receive direct payments from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
As a marketing agency, you can use the price guarantee to:
- secure credit from lenders
- improve producer cash flow with initial payments for delivered products
- make sure of equal returns to producers for products of similar grades, varieties, and types
Program objectives
This program aims to:
- help and encourage cooperative marketing of eligible agricultural products, including processed products
- encourage producers to form marketing agencies to take advantage of marketing opportunities
- enable you to make an initial payment for delivered products to improve your members' cash flow and meet their short-term financial needs as they secure better returns
- provide your members equal returns for products of similar grade, variety and type
- support better farm income as crops are marketed over an extended season when market conditions are better
- help you secure a minimum rate of return for your members to protect them against unexpected price declines
- provide you with a price guarantee that can be used as security to get loans to finance initial payments to your members
- help your members benefit from economies of scale
- support single-desk selling with a pooled price
How the price guarantee works
Under the program, you enter into an agreement with the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. This agreement provides a price guarantee for delivered products which allows your marketing agency to provide producers with an initial payment upon delivery.
The guarantee also covers eligible costs to store, process, transport and sell products, to a fixed limit. The guarantee is based on a percentage of the expected average wholesale price of the product.