The Rural Voice, 1986-08, Page 25NEWS
to create more employment for
rural farm people. The report sug-
gested that incentives should be of-
fered to encourage small and
medium-sized businesses to locate
in rural areas, particularly in areas
where intensive farming cannot be
carried on.
The direction of the Ministry of
Agriculture and Food should be to
pay more attention to consumer
preferences, business management
skills, and marketing savvy on the
part of the producers. The report
recommends that an assessment of
the basic support services of
OMAF be carried out and changes
made to reflect the needs of the
producer.
The Farm Tax Reduction Pro-
gram came under scrutiny and it
was recommended that its benefit
to bona fide farmers be evaluated
in light of the number of absentee
landowners and farmers deriving a
major portion of their income
from off -the -farm.
The Council recommended that
income stabilization programs be
maintained but restricted to
historical production and
minimum coverage requirements
to cover new entrants. The need
for short-term emergency
assistance is recognized and the
council recommends the renewal
of OFFIRR with some changes.
Free Trade
The council expressed concern
about the detrimental effect of
Free Trade negotiations with the
U.S. stating that negotiations
under the GATT agreement would
be more beneficial.
The high level of quota values is
another concern where the council
recommended that the marketing
boards involved be directed to deal
with this problem.
The Agri -Mortgage proposal of
the council would see the govern-
ment guarantee a private mortgage
where a vendor of a farm takes
back a mortgage and also offer tax
breaks or interest subsidies to
make interest cost affordable to
the farm purchaser if necessary.
The future of the farmer and his
family operation will have to be
carefully guarded if it is to con-
tinue. The recommendations of the
Agricultural Council will have to
be studied closely and with an open
mind. The farm scene is a changing
one, maybe more than we are
ready to accept. C RHS
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