The Rural Voice, 1980-05, Page 23A matter of principle
by J. Car/ Hemingwa
y
Where do we go from here?
Since 1 have only limited space for my column this one will
probably cover a rather wide area very briefly.
I attended the last County Federation of Agriculture meeting
held in Grey twp. on April 3rd.
Mr. Barrie. the new O.F.A. President, was guest speaker. He
made a statement that really surprised me, so much that after
the meeting I checked with several others to see if my hearing
was still o.k. He stated that the consultant firm that prepared his
income tax returns, along with some 600 other farmers' returns,
told him that farmers were receiving.12 per cent return on their
investment in farming. He didn't state the type of farming. The
several farmers I spoke to were just as surprised as 1 was.
I was very much surprised to hear that the O.F.A.
recommended that seed companies should be given the right to
patent their new varieties and collect royalties. The idea was that
this would encourage plant breeders to put more money into
research producing new and better seeds quicker.
Apparently Canadian and provincial departments of Agri-
culture aren't increasing yields of grains fast enough to suit the
Federation even though Western farmers produced so much
wheat and the Wheat Board sold some 50 million tons more than
they were able to find export transportation for.
Even though the corn price has gone up some 20c per bushel
recently. it still isn't profitable considering storing, elevation and
interest costs. It seems rather silly to spend a lot of money to get
more productive seed when we can't deliver to the export market
what we are already able to produce and sell at less than a
profitable price.
There '.v,,s „ strong general feeling that the government should
subsidize the farmers on the interest on their borrowed capital.
This is fine for those who foolishly jumped in over their heads
but what about the "backward" farmers who, over the past 30 or
40 years have struggled and saved and paid for their farms?
They now own their comparati, ely small numbers of livestock
and ancient ma .h;ucry that is still doing the work. Is the
government going to give them an interest subsidy on their
investment? If the government doesn't do this they will really be
losing that amount of income.
Since the meeting. from vv nat I have been able to gather. it will
only be those who are one step ahead of the sheriff that can
qualify for this interest subsidy.
Do we need these high interest rates? Certainly the borrowers
don't need them, but that is only half the story. What about the
lenders?
I can see no indication that our banks have any intention of
changing their "lifestyle" or "profits" so by using "production
control" the banks must have about double the interest rate.
If you have any doubts that there is "production control" of
money please turn to page 5 of the April issue of the Member's
Digest, O.F.A. and read the column - Bank of Canada Policy. It is
stated by the Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada that "The
Bank of Canada...is responsible for the amount of Canadian
money available to the public...He blamed inflation on "well
intentioned but poorly conceived" public finance policies (of
government and the central banks")
Finally, I heard no complaints from the Milk Producers,
Cream Producers, Egg Producers, or Broiler Growers. I wonder
why?
Perhaps our protests would have been more effective last Feb.
18th.
II/A1P/Ailr:///
0
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THE RURAL VOICE/MAY 1980 PG 21