Producers need to adjust their agri-environmental risk assessments.

Producers across Canada are receiving notices from the administration of AgriInvest, one of the business risk management programs available from the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (Sustainable CAP).

It’s designed as a self-managed producer-government savings account to buffer small declines in income and invest in risk management practices to improve market income.

The reason for the communiques is to inform participants of a change in the “agri-environmental risk assessment” requirement for the 2025 program year. For those producers with an average Allowable Net Sales (ANS) of $1.0 million or more in each of the previous three years (2022 to 2024), they must have an eligible agri-environmental risk assessment in place to receive matching government contributions. The million-dollar mark applies before the ANS limit is factored, and the risk assessment must be valid during a producer’s 2025 fiscal year.

The full document, “AgriInvest: 2025 program year deadlines, agri-environmental risk assessment requirement”  is available online through Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC). It includes a breakdown of the new filing deadlines:

• June 30, 2026 -initial deadline to submit the 2025 form (without penalty)
• September 30, 2026 -the final deadline for submitting the 2025 form (without penalty).

A producer’s agri-environmental risk assessment must be valid during a farm operation’s 2025 fiscal year.

How can this affect a producer?
Under AgriInvest, an agri-environmental risk assessment identifies various on-farm risks along with sustainability tools to support producers in implementing measures that lessen the effects of environmental hazards. A producer could be provided with guidance on improving a farm’s health and safety program, adding value to their operation, reducing costs and improving competitiveness. Evaluations can be made on:

• Practices in soil and nutrient management
• Crop and pest management
• Water, biodiversity and land use
• Handling and storage of farm inputs
• Waste, by-products, pollution
• Energy efficiency
• Livestock and feed management

The good news is that most of the eligible agri-environmental risk assessments for AgriInvest are familiar to most producers, particularly in Ontario and Eastern Canada. They include:

• 4R Nutrient Stewardship designation for farmers
• Environmental Farm Plan
• Nutrient Management Plan
• Certified Organic
• Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB) Sustainable Beef Production Standard
• Saskatchewan agri-environmental risk assessment
• Plan agroenvironnemental de fertilisation
• Plan d’accompagnement agroenvironnemental

A risk assessment must be on this list to be considered eligible for AgriInvest. No other assessment programs will be accepted. It’s worth noting that some options for assessment are more complicated than others. For instance, Nutrient Management Plans require soil samples prior to seeding and again after harvest, each year.

Also, AgriInvest is not directly involved with the delivery of the agri-environmental risk assessments. Interested producers must determine the appropriate risk assessment tool for their operation and find a suitable provider. The staff at Elite Agri Solutions is capable and readily available to help with Nutrient Management Plans (NMPs) and Health & Safety training programs.

By the numbers
A farm operation’s ANS is calculated by subtracting gross purchases from gross sales of allowable commodities. Then an average ANS for the 2022, 2023 and 2024 program years are added together and divided by three. For example:

$1,100,000 (2022 ANS) + $1,000,000 (2023 ANS) + 1,250,000 (2024 ANS) = $3,350,000.

Divided by three, that’s an average ANS of $1,116,666.67 for the 2025 program year. The ANS is limited to $1.0 million. According to the AgriInvest document, “We don’t apply the $1.0 million ANS limit when calculating (the) average ANS to determine if (a producer) must have an agri-environmental risk assessment for the program year”.

To submit
Producers must have a valid risk assessment in place at some point during their 2025 fiscal year. Submissions may be made once the eligible agri-environmental risk assessment is in place. Producers can log into their My AAFC Account to submit a declaration, and for every year that the average ANS is $1.0 million or more, a producer must submit a declaration to receive matching government contributions.

Programs such as AgriInvest provide valuable incentives to reduce risk in farming operations. But there are many considerations when submitting for matching funds, and the process of qualifying with a valid risk assessment can be long and complicated. The staff at Elite Agri Solutions is ready to help, whether you need to plan for Health & Safety training on your operation or to create -or revise -your Nutrient Management Plan (NMP). For more information, call 519 – 953 – 4479.