Ottawa--The announcement of $1.75 billion in financial aid for dairy farmers during the next eight years to offset the impact of increased domestic market access under trade deals settles only one of the compensation discussions affecting supply management that started last fall and leaves up in the air how the new NAFTA deal will be factored in.And it has the Canadian Federation of Agriculture and other farm organizations reminding the government that other sectors have taken it on the chin because of trade disputes and need assistance now.The Canadian Dairy Commission will handle the payouts with $345 million to be distributed in the first year, in the form of direct payments based on the amount of quota a producer has. Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said a farmer with 80 dairy cows will receive $28,000 during the first year. The federal government will consult with Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC) to determine terms and conditions for future years.While welcoming the dairy assistance, CFA President Mary Robinson said pork, beef and canola producers have been equally negatively impacted by recent aggressive trade actions and require the same kind of government support, whether through direct compensation or improved Business Risk Management programming.They “face a huge amount of uncertainty in their business as they grow and raise products that may have no opportunity to be sold due to Chinese trade actions against Canadian agricultural products,” she said. “This disruption was not created by farmers, and instead is the result of geopolitical actions where the Canadian agriculture sector has become collateral damage.” China accounted for 40 per cent of canola seed exports in 2018 and was the third largest export buyer of Canadian pork.“Farmers are under an immense amount of stress and anxiety as their livelihoods are being threatened by factors that are completely out of their control, with seemingly no end in sight. Without quick support, there will be long-term consequences to Canadian agriculture,” she said. “In this current global environment, being prepared for the type of trade disputes that we are seeing today is crucial. Canadian farmers need the government to be proactive in providing reliable tools and compensation to get us through these dire situations.”President Gunter Jochum of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association said, “Dairy farmers in Quebec are receiving funding whereas grain farmers across the Prairies are only offered ways to increase their farm debt through the Advanced Payment Programs. During the last 36 months, grain farmers have witnessed non-tariff barriers blocking our durum exports to Italy, Saudi Arabia, Peru and Vietnam. In related crops, our pulse exports to India are similarly being blocked. Most recently China, the biggest customer for canola, has created barriers to our exports.”After the new trade deal with the United States and Mexico was announced in October, three working groups were set up to look at compensation for the dairy and poultry sectors. Bibeau inherited the discussions with three industry working groups when she became agriculture minister in January. She promised the compensation details would be wrapped up by the end of June. When that deadline passed, she said they would be completed before the election, which is expected to be held on Oct. 21.The second working group is developing “a future vision to ensure the dairy industry can innovate, grow and remain an important source of jobs and growth for future generations.” Its work isn't complete, DFC said. The third group covers the turkey, chicken and egg sectors and while its work has been completed, no final decision has been made.“There is no doubt that conceding part of our domestic dairy market has had a major impact on the livelihoods of dairy producers,” said DFC President Pierre Lampron. DFC estimates that the market access granted under these agreements represents an annual loss equivalent to 8.4 per cent of the country's milk production. Adding these concessions to the access already granted under the WTO, it is estimated that by 2024, nearly 20 per cent of domestic demand for dairy products will be met by imports.Dairy farmers need a strong processing sector and DFC expects the government will assist them as well, he said.Alex Binkley is a freelance journalist and writes for domestic and international publications about agriculture, food and transportation issues. He's also the author of two science fiction novels with more in the works.