Please find below a letter from the Chair of the Canadian Pork Council and the chairs of the provincial pork producer organizations in Canada regarding the needed  changes to the AgriStability
We are concerned that the if the Federal Provincial and Territorial ministers will make very few changes to the AgriStability program due to affordability. 
Removing the reference margin limit does very little for pork producers  and If affordability remains a barrier to increasing the trigger to 85%, the pork industry would consider an increase to the payment rate a successful outcome.

November 18, 2020
Dear Ministers,
Canada’s 7,000 pork producers play an important role in their rural communities and are key contributors to agri-food exports and ensuring the security of Canada’s food supply. However, their contributions are at risk due to unprecedent market volatility, much of it beyond their control.
In the current market, AgriStability should be serving as an anchor to help producers ride out the storm. Unfortunately, the drop in support levels introduced in 2012 have resulted in a program that provides little, if any support. Farmers have been left exposed to significant risk, and effectively left to manage that risk on their own. AgriStability must be fixed.
At its core, it is a good program. It is tailored to our individual situations. It only pays out when we face a significant loss. It is trade compliant. While it offers support to producers, it does not mask important signals that tell farmers adjustments are required.
Pork producers are expected to lose more than $500 million due to COVID-19, losses that are expected to continue well into 2021. However, the impacts on producers, their rural community, supply chains and the Canadian economy can be mitigated if Ministers fix AgriStability.
In order to return AgriStability to its former role as a meaningful backstop that delivers the support producers need, when they need it, the fix must include changes to the payment trigger or the payment rate.
If all Ministers do is remove Reference Margin Limiting (RML), governments will have failed farmers once again.
Please choose to protect farmers, rural communities, the food system, and the economy.
Sincerely,
Rick Bergman Chair, Canadian Pork Council
Jack DeWit, Chair, BC Pork
Brent Moen , Chair, Alberta Pork
Casey Smit, Chair, Saskatchewan Pork Development Board
George Matheson, Chair, Manitoba Pork
Eric Schwindt, Chair, Ontario Pork Chair,
David Duval, Fédération des producteurs de porcs du Québec
Margie Lamb, Chair, Pork Nova Scotia
Hans Kristensen, Chair, Porc NB Pork
Paul Larsen , Chair, PEI Hog Commodity Marketing Board