The Rural Voice, 2006-02, Page 50BRUCE
Email: bruce@ota.on.ca
website: www.ota.on.ca/bruce
County Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER
Farm income in limbo
2005 saw the American border open
to live cattle under 30 months of age.
Will this cause a positive change in
farmers' income? Not for people selling
breeding stock or cattle over 30 months
of age.
The effect of the BSE crisis is that
more of our livestock will be owned by
foreign interests and vertically -integrated
food companies. Most farmers are still
not realizing sufficient income for their
labour and investments. I say most
farmers, because supply -managed
farmers are making healthier returns than
their non -supply -managed neighbours. I
am glad of this because these farmers are
still able to support local retailers and not
use off -farm income to support their
farms.
You can ask any local farm equipment
or truck dealership how healthy the farm
industry is and they will tell you if it
were not for leasing arrangements they
would not sell anything to farmers.
Traditionally, farmers were able to
purchase their equipment outright. Now
farmers must lease equipment which
further increases their cost of production.
Pressure is being put upon
government from foreign countries and
indeed our own trade lawyers, to
dismantle our supply -managed farm
commodities. The rumour is that
consumers in Canada are being charged
excessive prices for products produced
under supply management, or that raw
materials to be used in further processing
are too expensive to sustain some
industries in Canada. I have purchased
products in other countries that do not
have supply management and I have
always found we have cheaper food
prices here in Canada. We also have a
more vibrant rural community than I have
seen in these other countries who do not
have supply management. Indeed the
demise of vibrant family farms in other
countries has led to a rural population of
minimum wage earners who are not
enjoying the benefits of the countries
they live in. I compliment the Canadian
government for standing up for our
supply -managed commodities and can
only wish that more commodities in our
agricultural community were working
within a supply -managed framework.
The only way that farmers should ever
46 THE RURAL VOICE
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Members in Bruce County by the BCFA
consider dropping supply management
would be if all their input costs were also
brought to the lowest world level. This
would mean all machinery, vehicles and
manufactured goods would have to be
built without union wage rates, financial
institutions would have to make less on
their investments, and fuel and energy
costs would have to reflect non -
monopoly pricing. We know this will not
happen because all these groups have in
their own way worked themselves into a
supply -managed system. It is unfair for
our farmers to be expected to pay full
retail price for their inputs and then be
expected to sell at world wholesale prices
and still expect to make themselves a
profit.
When this article is published we will
have had another federal election and
may even have a new federal
government. Will this change anything? I
found that during candidates' debates,
agricultural policy was being discussed
reluctantly by most candidates, and none
of the major parties seemed to want to
make the type of commitment that would
give a farmer the confidence he or she
needs to go and borrow enough money to
start purchasing spring input needs. I
heard lots of promises about studies and
changes to existing programs, i.e. the
CAIS program. The time for studies and
minor changes is long past. I hope that
farmers see these actions as government
procrastination. Government shelves are
full of excellent studies, most of them
collecting dust. Wayne Easter's report
(Empowering Farmers at the Market
Place) has excellent suggestions, and I
hope every farmer has availed themselves
of a copy and is ready to take advantage
of opportunities that may come along.
Government is caught between the
drive of big multinational companies who
need to produce better bottom lines for
their foreign and Canadian investors, and
the need of many smaller farmers to
make a decent living. It would appear
there are two diverging roads in
agriculture: the large, vertically -
integrated company that demands only
cheap inputs from small producers and if
that is not possible wants free trade to
import cheap raw materials, and the
smaller, family-owned operator who
needs, at some point, to sell his produce.
I think the time has come for the
smaller producers to decide whether they
just want to sell their farm produce for
further processing and marketing, or
whether they want to become involved in
further processing and marketing of their
goods themselves. If a farmer wishes
only to be a primary producer he may
achieve great efficiencies in production,
but is faced with a diminishing number of
buyers for his goods, and a resulting
decline in the value of his goods. The
recent BSE situation clearly pointed this
out.
The farmer who opts to become more
involved in the processing and marketing
of his products may not have the time to
be as efficient in food production, but
should achieve greater financial success
for his venture. I feel this has the added
benefit of forcing the basic producer to
be aware of changes in the market place
far quicker than someone who is removed
from the entire process. This in turn
allows that producer to more quickly
change his operation to meet the new
demands.
Bruce County farmers have a
distinctive situation. Our area is small
enough and unique enough that large
multinational companies do not yet want
to control our markets. We have to
remember we can not fight large
companies on their turf and hope to win.
We do have a chance of making a decent
living for ourselves if we look closely at
our own markets and how we can best
supply them. Wayne Easter's report talks
of ways government should help us to
that, and that is what we should expect
from government. I am convinced there
are opportunities here for us; we just
have to decide which route we wish to
take.0
— Submitted by Wietse Posthumus
1st Vice President
Bruce County Federation
of Agriculture
BRUCE COUNTY FEDERATION OF AGRICULTURE
DIRECTORS' MEETING
Monday, February 27 — 8:00 p.m.
Bruce County Administrative Building
30 Park Street, Walkerton
Members are welcome to attend