Farm Management Canada report promotes national risk management strategy

Executive Director Heather Watson said education and communication are part of the infrastructure that makes the risk management system work.

“Canada has invested significantly in programs and tools, but those investments cannot deliver their full value unless we can understand them, assess their relevance, and confidently put them into place,” Watson explained. “This strategy offers a practical path to close that gap.”

Their national strategy called for a modernized approach that recognizes business risk management programs as essential, while also placing more emphasis on comprehensive, proactive risk management including planning, prevention, preparedness, and adaptation.

The report said the strategy aligns with the recent Halifax Statement issued by the federal, provincial, and territorial ministers of agriculture that identifies sector resilience as a main priority for the next National Policy Framework. The Halifax Statement also calls for advancing proactive risk management and climate adaptation, strengthening emergency planning, improving existing programs, and recognizing diverse risk management approaches.

Farm Management Canada National Risk Management Lead Mathieu Lipary said the Halifax Statement sets a clear direction, that Canada wants an ag sector that can anticipate, withstand, and adapt.

“This strategy shows how we can support that ambition,” explained Lipary. “Farmers need more isolated program descriptions; they need trusted, practical, and sector-relevant guidance that connects risk awareness to proactive planning, informed decisions, and action.”

The FMC report recommended establishing a permanent, multi-stakeholder National Agricultural Risk Management Task Force or Roundtable to sustain coordination, development and promotion of a shared National Risk Management Framework that “presents risk management as a continuum spanning preparedness, prevention, mitigation, response, and recovery,” the structuring of clear pathways from risk management information to application, and embedding systematic feedback and learning mechanisms to track how risk management programs and tools are used so that education and communication efforts can evolve.

The report stated that the proposed strategy would not replace existing programs or centralize delivery and is meant instead to make risk management easier to understand and implement, and to reduce uncertainty and boost confidence.

Farm Management Canada described themselves as an umbrella for farm business management, and “the only national organization dedicated exclusively to the development and delivery of leading-edge resources, information and tools to support farm business success.”

by Cam Lee

Farm Management Canada report promotes national risk management strategy

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