Federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s latest budget envelope for Canadian farmers up against rising costs of production includes a temporary boost to the interest-free portion of cash advances.

Freeland’s 2023 federal budget, released yesterday, includes $13 million in 2023-24 for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to temporarily increase the interest-free limit for loans under its Advance Payments Program (APP) to $350,000 for the 2023 program year.

The interest-free portion of an APP loan was previously capped at $100,000 but that level was temporarily raised last summer to $250,000 for the 2022 and 2023 program years.

The APP provides farmers with cash advances of up to $1 million, based on up to 50 per cent of the anticipated market value of a farm’s eligible production, whether it’s still to be produced or is already stored.