Thank you, Wayne.
I'd like to build on what Martin has shared with us. The AgriInvest stimulus we've asked for would be 5%, based on allowable net sales from 2018. The reason for our suggestion is that it's a very simple mechanism that would give a quick injection of cash to producers straight across all commodities in the country. We thought that would be the cleanest way to get a stimulus to farmers to help them address some of these extraordinary costs.
The second part of our ask was that we would increase AgriStability coverage, and that would mean returning the coverage rate to 85% and removing the reference margin limit. Now, AgriStability is typically used to address large declines in margins. What we've seen is subscription to this program drop off because it's become very ineffective. I believe it was the Conservative government that cut it back 15%, so now if you're going to trigger an AgriStability payment, you're in very rough shape financially. It comes much later, 16 months after the fact, and it's really not that effective as a safety net program. That's why we've asked for AgriInvest to be reinstated to what it was before.
We've also asked for improved access to capital. We know all of these offers to Farm Credit Canada have been made. They represent only about 30% of the lending within our sector, so we'd like to see CALA expanded to other lending agencies in Canada.
The emergency fund that we mentioned is really a statement of confidence by government to Canadian producers. We've heard from other presenters that we're competing against American producers who definitely know they have the confidence of their president. They've seen over $30 billion given to them. What we need is for our government to step up, much as they have with health, and say that we need to ensure that our domestic food supply is secure this year. We need to make sure that the producers who are investing hundreds of million of dollars right now have the confidence to do that. If we don't have that kind of financial backstop from the federal government, we are going to see a reduction in the amount of food planted and the number of animals raised this year. We will see it hit all of us, and it will definitely result in food shortages, a decrease in the variety of food and an increase in the cost of food.
We've been careful to not raise panic and alarm about this in the press, but I can tell you that in Prince Edward Island and straight across the country, I'm hearing about upwards of a 25% reduction in potato planting. I'm understanding that in the Holland Marsh and that entire area, which is really the vegetable basket of Toronto where 90% of the produce comes from in the middle of summer, they're looking at a 10% to 40% reduction in their planting.
This is going to have a direct impact, because producers right now do not feel that the government has put anything meaningful in place that they can take to the bank so that if something happens on their farm due to COVID-19 and they're unable to harvest, they're going to be covered. It makes more sense for them not to make the investment.