HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1987-07-29, Page 12PAGE 12. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 1987.
CFFO seeks reduction on
high milk quota prices
The Christian Farmers Federa
tion of Ontario has adopted a
proposal aimed at reducing the
value of quota and thus easing the
financial strain of beginning farm
ers. The Federal also expects that
the proposal will limit the amount
of quota wealth producers take out
of agriculture when they retire.
The Federation’s Provincial
Board has adopted the “assessed
quota transfer proposal" drafted
by the Federation’s Dairy Commit
tee.
“We propose a change in quota
policy that will retain the present
profitability of milk production but
gradually reduce the value of quota
asanasset,’’Jack Vanderkooy.
Chairman of CFFO’s Dairy Com
mittee. told the 34-delegate CFFO
Provincial Board at its July meet
ing “High quota values put an
underlying strain on the fabric of
supply management as a new
generation of entrepreneurs is
forced deep into debt."
Under the transfer proposal, the
milk board’s current 15 per cent
assessment on quota sales would
be increased by five per cent each
year until it reached a maximum
rate of 75 per cent. That maximum
would be achieved 12 years after
the introduction of the policy.
Any quota purchased by pro
ducers following implementation
of the policy would be deemed
"new" quota, and hence would be
immediately assessed the maxi
mum 75 per cent upon transfer.
The proposal also changes the
way in which farmers purchase
quota. Producers would be
required to tender their bids. The
highest bidders would obtain
quota and wouldbe required to pay
what they bid. On the present
quota exchange, bidders pay an
exchange clearing price that is
often significantly lower than the
highest bid.
The milk board would reimburse
the sellers the average price paid.
The quota which the board would
acquire from the assessment
would be put up for tender along
with the quota sold by producers.
Surplus revenues would be collec
ted in a fund which would be used
for the common good of the
industry.
Within-family transfers would
remain exempt from the quota
transfer policy.
Regarding the sale of farms as
“going concerns’’, the CFFO
proposes that the farmer sell the
non-assessed portion of his quota
to the board, the price of which
would be set by the previous
month’s quota tender. The buyer
of the farm in turn would be able to
purchase all or part of the quota at
the average price set during the
last six tenders.
Bill Jongejan, CFFO President,
welcomed the Provincial Board’s
decision. “This gives us a two-fold
mandate,’’ hetoldthemeeting.
“We will be stimulating a discus
sion across the province. Within
CFFO we will be asking if this is a
model for other commodities.”
The Federation will seek a
discussion with the Ontario Milk
Marketing Board and will submit
theproposaltothe Agricultural
Council of Ontario. The Council is
in the midst of a study of quota
policies.
Copies of the proposal are
available free of charge by writing:
CFFO, 115 Woolwich St., Guelph,
Ontario. N1H 3V1.
Much of the back-breaking labour has been reduced in Fred VanderSteere’s modern milking parlour, but
he still gets up at 4:30 a.m. to get through his 13-hour day.
Canadians pay highest prices for cow's milk
★
Continued from page 5
the produce that winds up on
grocery shelves, but they ship the
raw industrial milk on to a plant in
Hamilton, which produces other
dairy products.
Mr. VanderSterre says that
Canadian goat’s milk consumption
has increased by close to 25 per
cent over the past two years, with
the market reacting to both the
recent health food fad and the
ever-increasing price of cow’s milk
and milk products to the consumer.
With a recent study saying Cana
dians paid the highest prices in the
world for their cow’s milk and dairy
products, people are turning more
and moretothe alternative, and
Mr. VanderSterre says that most
people are pleasantly surprised by
the taste of goat’s milk, and of the
increasing line of goat’s milk
products now available in health
food stores and in larger super
markets, products such as cheese,
butter, ice cream and yogurt.
It has long been known that both
babies and adults who cannot
tolerate cow’s milk because of
allergies or stomach problems,
thrive on goat’s milk, which Mr.
VanderSterre says is much easier
to digest than cow’s milk, since the
fat globules are much more diluted
in the goat’s milk, and therefore
more easily broken down in the
human stomach.
For the same reasons, goat’s
milk is increasingly becoming the
product of choice for many health-
conscious Canadians, with the
Hewitt dairy alone shipping fluid
milk to stores in Toronto, Ottawa,
Montreal, Sudbury and North Bay.
With the hold that traditional
dairy products have on the indus
trialized world, is it unlikely that
goat’s milk producers will ever
make a discernable impact on the
market.
But it makes a nice alternative
for people like Fred VanderSterre,
with limited time, space, and
capital, who will continue to
produce as long as the demand for
an alternative product continues to
rise.
Ontario
Wheat Producers
We are agents for the
Ontario
Wheat Producers
Marketing Board
and we also
Buy, Sell
and Store Barley
★
★
Fast Unloading
Accurate Probe
System
Trucking
Available
ATTENTION
FARMERS
PROTECT YOUR
ON THE FARM
GRAIN STORAGE
Every year weavel
and other grain
insects cause
thousands of
dollars damage
Don't be caught next spring
with infested grain bins
Spray your bins with Malathion
before you fill them
Use “Chipman”grain
protectant as you fill your bins
Forward Contracting
of
corn and soybeans
Come in or give us a call - We ll help you
care for your crop.
Howson & Howson Limited
Flour & Feed Millers, Complete Farm
Supplies, Grain Elevators
WINGHAM BLYTH CARGILL
357-2700 523-4241 366-2225
OWENSOUND
376-5830
_
For pennies per bushel you
can insure your grain is stored
safe and free from insect
infestation
COOK’S IN WALTON HAVE THE
PRODUCTS YOU NEED!
COOK’S
^Division of Gerbro Inc
WALTON BRANCH
WALTONDivision of
Gerbro/nc. 887_g261 5^5^