REGINA -- On Tuesday, the federal government announced around $250 million in supports for the agri-food, but Saskatchewan beef producers say the announcement is missing many measures they had called for.

Of that funding, around $125 million will go to helping cattle and hog producers who are currently producing more animals than can be processed right now.

Ryder Lee, the CEO of the Saskatchewan Cattlemen's Association, called the funding disappointing, adding producers were hoping to see measures surrounding price insurance and changes to different programs, most missing from the announcement.

"Producers are frustrated and angry and seeing other things happen and funding for all kinds of other things and now this that isn’t nearly what we were looking for," Lee said, adding the COVID-19 pandemic has caused price insurance rates to increase drastically.

"What COVID has done is made things so volatile that the prices have skyrocketed," Lee explained. "It's a COVID-based scenario and we're looking for a response that handles that."

The supports also include funding for food processors like meat packers to purchase protective equipment for workers and expand capacity as well as $50 million for a program to purchase surplus food and redistribute it as needed to avoid food waste.

Julie-Anne Howe, a cattle farmer from the Moose Jaw area, said COVID-19's impact on the market is beyond anything she's seen before.

That includes outbreaks of BSE, also known as "Mad Cow Disease".

"Right now, our industry is in turmoil," Howe said. "It’s unprecedented. BSE is nothing compared to this in terms of market disruptions.”

"We could definitely use more federal support to move forward and still have the supply that we’re used to.”

Lee said during the last major BSE outbreak in Canada, thousands of producers decided to give up raising cattle.

He cautions without longer term supports, this could lead to an another exodus of young farmers.

"It's the kind of thing where people throw up their hands and try to find something to do," Lee said. "You've got young producers who we've been able to bring into the industry, because it's a good place to be, but when you're young and new at something you don't have a lot of equity foundation built up."

"If we don't have the support there, we'll lose those producers and that's food production there that we need this year, we need next year and the year after that."

Ottawa had also previously announced $50 million in supports to help allow international agriculture workers to weather the mandatory two-week self isolation period.