A Farm Credit Canada incentive program is now accepting applications.

FCC’s Director of Sustainability Programs Curtis Grainger says the Sustainability Incentive Program, in partnership with the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB) and McCain Foods, is open to eligible producers.

Grainger explains there are two requirements to meet in order to participate: one is to be an FCC customer and the other is to be certified with the CRSB and McCain.

The CRSB works with “third-party certification bodies (Verified Beef Production Plus, Where Food Comes From and Ontario Corn Fed Beef Quality Assurance Program) to provide audited certification to its Sustainable Beef Production Standard at the cow-calf, background and feedlot level” according to a news release from Farm Credit Canada, while McCain has similar steps with its framework.

Grainger says applying for certification can be done by going online to the FCC website. It takes about 5 to 10 minutes to fill out the form.

“Since there is a lot of work involved for the producer on the front end in getting their certification, we wanted to make sure the incentive program operates in a simple way.” Grainger said.

He says certification takes about 6-9 months and once approved the incentive payment, which can be up to $2-thousand, takes about 4 weeks to get to the producer.

“The incentive program really is meant to be a light lift for the producer because they’ve already done all the hard work in getting their certification.”

2022 was the first year of the Sustainability Incentive Program. At the time it had over 250 applications and FCC sent out a total of $350-thousand to successful applicants.

Grainger says those who applied last year are eligible again, and is interested to see how many new applications come their way, to see how the program is performing.

The interview with Curtis Grainger can be heard below.