Dairy Farmers of Canada welcomes the announcement.Ottawa—Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC) has welcomed Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau's announcement that producers will be able to decide when they receive their first compensation payment.Choosing between receiving the payment before the end of 2019 or in the first three months of 2020 will provide producers with more flexibility in planning their business strategy, DFC said Nov. 22.Bibeau said dairy farmers will soon be receiving a letter explaining how much money they can receive from the program and the timing choice for when the payment is delivered into their bank account.The payments will come from a $1.75 billion program Bibeau announced during the summer to offset the loss of domestic share from increased imports allowed under the European and Pacific free trade deals. The Canadian Dairy Commission will distribute the money.She also said she wants to make progress on compensating poultry and egg producers. There was no indication of when compensation might be available for dairy and poultry processors.A farmer with 80 dairy cows will receive $28,000 during the first year.After the new trade deal with the United States and Mexico was announced in October 2018, three working groups were set up to look at compensation for the dairy and poultry sectors. After Bibeau became agriculture minister last January, she said the compensation details would be wrapped up by summer. Then it was before the Oct. 21 election.The first working group tackled compensation for the dairy sector from the trade deals while the second one was to develop “a future vision to ensure the dairy industry can innovate, grow and remain an important source of jobs and growth for future generations.” The third group covers the turkey, chicken and egg sectors and while its work has been completed, no final decision has been made.DFC has estimated 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, DFC President Pierre Lampron says.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.