Answers to some frequently asked questions...
Questions
- How is a CAIS payment triggered?
- Can a producer trigger a CAIS payment simply because they are downsizing their operation?
- Is there a payment cap for CAIS?
- Do farms with more shareholders get a higher payment cap, like in NISA or OFIDP?
Answers
How is a CAIS payment triggered?
Simply stated, payments are triggered when your current year's production margin falls below your reference margin.
Can a producer trigger a CAIS payment simply because they are downsizing their operation?
CAIS makes adjustments for both downsizing and expansion. This adjustment is termed structural change and adjusts the farm's reference margin to reflect the size of the operation in the program year. For example, if a producer had always farmed 1,000 acres of cash crops and in the program year reduced their farm to 500 acres, the reference margin would be reduced by half to reflect the 50% reduction in acreage.
Is there a payment cap for CAIS?
The maximum program benefits that an eligible participant - including operations combined for whole farm purposes - can receive for a given program year is the lesser of $3,000,000 or 70% of the margin decline.
Do farms with more shareholders get a higher payment cap, like in NISA or OFIDP?
No. All farms whether they are individuals (sole proprietors or partners in a partnership) or entities (corporations, co-operatives or trusts) are subject to the same payment cap. There is no advantage to increasing the number of shareholders to increase the payment cap, as was the case for NISA or OFIDP.
