Agriculture leaders are in agreement that Tuesday's federal budget had a number of positive elements for Canadian farmers.
Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) President Ron Bonnett said the biggest highlight was the proposed increase of the Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption from $800,000 to $1 million.
"This is important from a number of perspectives," he said. "Number one, the capital assets that farmers build, that's basically their retirement package so it helps protect some of it from taxation and the other aspect is from the succession planning point of view."
Bonnett notes other positives in the budget include the reduction on small business taxes from 11 to 9 per cent, the focus on export market development, and the extension of the accelerated capital cost allowance for the processing sector.
He added there were a few things missing from the budget such as changes to tax policy to assist with succession planning and the lack of focus on research.
Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) President Dan Mazier said one thing he liked was the $14 million dollar investment into Futurpreneur Canada (formerly the Canadian Youth Business Foundation).
"I've often asked, 'how do you get started and what do we do to support entrepreneurs in Canada?'," he said. "Talk about innovation, that's a pretty nice program and a good start to things and at least let us talk about how do we attract entrepreneurs into Canada. So that's a good thing."
The program is estimated to help an estimated 2,700 young entrepreneurs access financing and programs.
Futurpreneur Canada says these individuals have the potential to create 10,800 new jobs.