Once harvest wraps up for another year, producers often spend some time reflecting on what went well, and what could have gone better over the past growing season. They also begin to strategize for next year and look for ways to improve their bottom line. One way to get the upper edge on the competition is to arm yourself with knowledge. After all, late-fall and winter are the perfect times to enroll in a course and focus on how to work smarter, not harder.
The Agricultural Skills and Knowledge (ASK) Program is one of the many programs offered under the Canadian Agriculture Partnership Programming that focuses on risk management. This program assists producers by cost sharing in educational expenses for farm management courses and training activities. Many of the courses currently registered with this program focus on marketing, human resources, succession planning, strategic planning and understanding farm structures. Generally speaking, these are the core areas that strengthen the financial backbone of a farm. Applicants must successfully complete the course or training activity before a claim is made and only ASK registered courses are eligible for reimbursement.
Eligible applicants must be a Saskatchewan resident, 18 years of age and older and demonstrate a minimum of $50,000 gross farm income in Saskatchewan. If you are involved with a livestock operation, you must have a Saskatchewan Premises Identification number.
Eligible expenses include tuition or registration, textbooks, course reading materials or other course materials and software as required for the approved learning activity. Applicants can apply for a rebate of up to 50 per cent of the total eligible costs to a maximum program payment of $2,500 per person per year. Maximum funding available is $10,000 per person over the life of the program.
All claims must be submitted within 180 days (six months) of completing the training activity or be received by December 31, 2022 in order to be eligible for reimbursement.
