Price Pooling Program
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.
Offered by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC)
Amount
Offered at no cost: a price guarantee for delivered products (the initial payment to producers plus eligible costs to store, process, transport and sell products, to a fixed limit), requested at 65% of the expected average wholesale price; if the calculated value is less than the guaranteed amount, AAFC pays the shortfall
Quick eligibility check
Who can apply
You must meet all the following criteria to be eligible.
- You're a marketing agency or a group of producers marketing under an "official cooperative plan." For example:
- You're an associationnote 1 of producers marketing agricultural products produced by the producers, under an official cooperative plan
- You're a processornote 2 who represents a processing company marketing agricultural products under an official cooperative plan
- You're a person authorized by one or more associations or producers, as listed above, to market agricultural products under an official cooperative plan
- You pool revenues from your sales of eligible agricultural products to make sure producers receive equal returns for products of similar grade, variety and type
You need to meet all the eligibility criteria to qualify for the program.
If you meet all the eligibility criteria, you may qualify for the program.
Any agricultural product that is produced in Canada and delivered to the pool can be covered under the program. Agricultural products include:
- animal, plant, or their products
- products, including food or drink that is partly or wholly derived from animals or plants
Note 1
An association of producers can include cooperatives, corporations, partnerships, associations and marketing boards.
Note 2
A processor is an organization involved in the processing, conversion or preparation of an agricultural product for marketing.
About the funding
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
Show all funding details
- make sure of equal returns to producers for products of similar grades, varieties, and types
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.
Once all your eligible sales are completed, the actual average wholesale price is calculated. The agreement is valid only for the specified crop year when the product is produced.
- If the calculated value of the agricultural product is less than the guaranteed amount (the initial payment plus the eligible costs), we pay the shortfall
- If the calculated value of the agricultural product is greater than the guaranteed amount, the surplus stays in the pool for future use or is distributed to producers based on the grade, variety and type of product that they delivered to the pool
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