The provincial government announced they would live up to their signed agreement to fully fund their share of the Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization (CAIS) program for 2003.

This is a one-time top-up of $110 million for the program, increasing Saskatchewan's share from $99 million to $209 million, but there is no word on whether the province will do the same for the 2004 program.

The province had concerns over the cost-sharing formula, but Premier Calvert said in spite of this, "fully funding the CAIS program was the best thing we could do to alleviate the hardship being felt by our producers and their families."

"We have always said we would be there for our producers. We will continue to fight for agricultural programs that are fair, affordable and sustainable for all producers in Canada," added Mark Wartman, provincial Agriculture minister.

The opposition Saskatchewan Party said they were happy to finally see the government top up the program funds, but noted the government waited until many producers were in a dire situation before they acted.

"It's as though the NDP thought a province full of desperate farmers would speed up the negotiations with Ottawa," said Ag critic Lorne Stewart, adding that the minister and premier should be ashamed "at the way they used Saskatchewan producers as pawns in their negotiations with the feds in their attempt to get a new funding formula."

The Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) also said they were glad to hear the funding was being topped up, and added that farmers would have been better able to make plans for next year had the funding been announced earlier. The group noted that Saskatchewan was the only province to have the provincial part of the program pro-rated.

"This has been an extremely difficult year for agriculture in Saskatchewan. The continued border closure, an early frost, and low commodity prices have put many producers on the financial brink," said APAS president Terry Hildebrandt in a statement.

Minister Wartman said he continues to be concerned about the 60-40 funding split, and will continue to work on changing this ratio for the 2004 program.