Changes have been made to the two-year Agricultural Income Disaster Assistance (AIDA) program for 1999, the second and last year the program will be in effect.

AIDA, which administers $1.78 billion, funded 60 per cent by the federal government and 40 per cent by the provincial government, is to provide assistance if a producer's program margin (allowable income minus allowable expenses) falls below 70 per cent of the reference margin in the current year.

With the deadline for 1999 applications being July 31, AIDA administration claims that extensive changes to the program will make it more responsive to producers' needs.

The administration expects to pay more out this year, with initial payments starting to be issued in late June. The federal government will initially pay 50 per cent of its share and the provincial government, 60 per cent. Payment levels will be adjusted closer to the deadline.

AIDA administration is promoting an optional CWB income adjustment schedule. The schedule combines the initial CWB payment price for crops with a modified accrual adjustment to more accurately value CWB grains. The objective is to bring CWB revenues more in line with production in the claim year.

The schedule allows for the removal of any adjustment, interim, or final payments received in 1999 that relate to the previous years' crops. It adds back projected future income from 1999 production by multiplying total production by the difference between the initial payment and the Pool Return Outlook (PRO). No payments will be reduced as a result of the adjustment.

Additional changes include the option of submitting up to five years of information to be used in calculating the reference period using an "Olympic average" which eliminates the best and worst margin year to average the three remaining years. An applicant can also choose to stick with sending in data from the previous three years to calculate the reference margin.

Reference margins will also be adjusted for farmers who have expanded their operations.

The 1999 AIDA program includes all salaries and wages, including family labour, as an eligible expense. In addition, there will be two ways of establishing inventory value, with one method basing it on year-end price and the other basing it on start and year-end prices. Different methods can be used on different commodities such as grain and cattle.

AIDA information sessions will be held across Saskatchewan in next two months. A meeting is set for Radville on Monday, June 12 at Radville, 1:30 p.m. at the Recreation Centre.