The Rural Voice, 1979-10, Page 28RuraiNews in Brief
Increased interest rates
plague farmers
Increased interest rates are causing
hardships for many farmers and will
eventually lead to a decline in productivity,
Peter Hannam, President, Ontario Feder-
ation of Agriculture (OFA), told the Pine
Ridge Branch of the Ontario Institute of
Agrologists.
Hanam said the increase in prime rates
from 8% per cent in early 1978 to 13 per
cent today is costing farmers an estimated
$70 -million in extra interest charges on
short-term loans alone.
The OFA estimates farm indebtedness in
Ontario is now $3.2 -billion; short-term
bank loans amount to $1 -billion and
$3 -400 -million is owed to supply companies,
dealers and individuals. The balance is
made up of mortgages and long-term loans
for expansion, new equipment or improved
facilities.
The OFA estimates every one per cent
increase in interest rates costs farmers an
additional $32 million dollars per year.
Last year interest costs represented 12% of
the operating expenses on Ontario farms
and Hannam expects the percentage will
increase considerably this year. Consum-
ers will have to pay that bill.
Hannam said young farmers are in
serious financial difficulty. Many have
large mortgages on their $200-400,000
farms and are dependent upon the banks
for short-term loans until their products are
sold.
"I expect many young people will be
forced off their farms this winter and
others will be so far in debt they will never
get out", he said. Hannam warned this
would have serious long-term effects for
the industry because often the young
farmers are the most progressive.
Hannam said well-established farmers
are also being hurt. "At 12% you might go
ahead and buy new machinery or facilities,
but at 14 or 15% it just doesn't make
economic sense" he said.
Hannam concluded, farm efficiency
would decline leading to both reduced farm
incomes and higher consumer prices. He
also forecast a difficult year for the farm
supply industry. He called on both Provin-
cial and Federal governments to re-
evaluate current economic policies and
their impact on the food industry, and to
take drastic steps if necessary to cushion
the effect of high interest rates on
agriculture for the benefit of producers,
consumers, and all other segments of this
all-important industry.
Beef imports
create problems
National cattlemen's organizations from
Canada, the United States, Australia and
New Zealand met in Calgary last month to
discuss ways to stabilize swings in the
international beef market.
All fqur groups pronounced themselves
unhappy with the guaranteed minimum
access provision for beef imports into
Canada and the U.S. under the recently
concluded General Agreement on Tariffs
and Trade (GATT).
The North American cattlemen thought
the access provision was too high while the
Australian and New Zealand represent-
atives opposed restrictions of any kind on
their exports.
The access provision allows 62 million
kilograms of beef into Canada annually,
with provision for increasing it as the
population grows.
Stewart Brown, president of the Canad-
ian Cattlemen's Association said cattlemen
were "quite disturbed that the level was
set as high as it is, and is a guaranteed
access level."
The association had asked for an import
quota of 60 million kilos, with no growth
provision. Mr. Brown accused the GATT
negotiators of being "weak in the knees."
PG. 26 THE RURAL VOICE/OCTOBER
Both Canadian and American cattlemen
want legislation allowing for imports on a
counter -cyclical formula - more imports
when domestic cattle supplies are low and
prices high, less when supplies are high
and prices low.
Who controls
the seed trade?
Pat Roy Mooney, author of a new book
titled Seeds of The Earth, has accused
multinational oil and chemical companies
of taking control of the world's seed trade.
Mr. Mooney, who released the book
during the annual meeting of the World
Food Council in Ottawa, said the result of
multinational companies controlling the
seed trade could be crop failures and
infestations greater than have ever been
known.
The author said the main threat posed by
the new seed giants is the eradication of
the wild species of vegetables and grains,
found in many developing countries.
Without these species hybrid crops can't
have new traits bred in to make them
resistant to new pests and disease.
Mr. Mooney warned loss of this ability
could lead to the destruction of many North
American, Australian and European crops
1979
in a few decades.
The wild species are eradicated by the
introduction into developing countries of
the hybrid products of the seed companies.
Some of the multi -national companies
which have taken over seed companies in
recent years are Ciba-Geigy Ltd. of
Switzerland; Pfizer, Union Carbide and
Occidental Petroleum of the U.S. and
Royald Dutch Shell of the Netherlands.
Mr. Mooney's book accuses many of the
companies of having questionable records
in plant or product safety.
The author said he hopes Canadians,
particularly farmers and seed growers, will
take a serious look at plant breeder rights
legislation the Conservative government
says it will introduce for discussion.
When Eugene Whelan was minister of
agriculture he promised such legislation
but backed down in the face of opposition
from some farm groups.
Mr. Mooney believes if governments act
now, the multinational companies can still
be checked. He said, "Knowledgeable
governments can act to protect public
breeding programs and curtail the
expansion of the global seed industry in
their own territories."
Union Carbide has already responded to
charges outlined in Seeds of the Furth and
a compan ' spokesman said, "We're
certainly not controlling any seeds, inter-
nationally or domestically."