The Rural Voice, 2006-03, Page 114
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Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario
5653 Hwy 6 North, RR 5 Guelph, ON N1H 6)2
Voice: (519) 837-1620 Fax: (519) 824-1835
Email: cffomail@christianfarmers.org
Web: www.christianfarmers.org
Fixing Farm Incomes
Everybody Has Solutions for the Farm Crisis — Which Solutions Work?
The 2006 CFFO Seminar Series
You are invited to attend the
CFFO's annual seminar series. An
annual tradition for over 10 years,
the CFFO seminars give farmers a
chance to roll up their sleeves and
work towards constructive solutions
for the problems of farming. This
year's seminar series focuses on how
to make sense of all the very
different solutions that farm groups
have put forward to fix farm income.
The year 2005 was a bumper year
for major reports on fixing Canadian
agriculture. It seems that everybody
has solutions for the farm crises.
The Honourable Wayne Easter,
Parliamentary Secretary to the
Minister of Agriculture and
Agri -Food, produced "Empowering
Canadian Farmers in the
Marketplace" in July.
Easter reported that the farmers
who attended his cross -Canada
consultations wanted to be
empowered in the marketplace. That
led him to call for limits on the
market power of corporations.
The National Farmers Union wrote
"The Farm Crisis: Its Causes and
Solutions," a submission to the
Federal -Provincial Ministers of
Agriculture Meeting in Kananaskis,
Alberta in July.
• The National Farmers Union
submission debunks a long list of
supposed causes of the farm income
crisis, and then focuses on the lack
of producer market power. Their
report proposes a 16 -point plan to
shore up farmers' ability to influence
what happens beyond the farm gate.
The Agriculture Institute of Canada
commissioned a discussion paper,
"Big Farms, Small Farms: Strategies
in Sustainable Agriculture to fit All
Sizes," for their annual conference in
November.
The Agriculture Institute of
Canada's discussion document offers
some new ways forward. Two are
noteworthy: Big farms and small
farms need different treatment to be
sustainable; Farms are
multifunctional and should be paid
for ecological services and
sustainable practices.
The Canadian Federation of
Agriculture wrote "Agricultural Policy
Framework II: A Canadian Farm Bill"
in December to get attention for
agriculture during the federal
election.
The Canadian Federation of
Agriculture's approach morphs the
five pillars of the federal Agricultural
Policy Framework into three:
strategic growth, business risk
management and public goods and
services. Can a new framework
deliver a new beginning for farmers?
A summary of each submission can
be found on the CFFO website at
w vw.christianfarmers.org
Join us as we work our way
through the various reports and their
recommendations. Participants can
expect to be asked the following
questions:
• What is intriguing / worrying to
you about these proposals?
• What are the strengths/weaknesses
of these solutions?
• Which of the solutions do you
support?
• Which solutions belong on CFFO's
agenda?
Please attend a seminar near you
and help us as we move forward on
the development of solutions for the
farm income problem.
#
DATE
TOWN
VENUE
COUNTIES INVITED
1
Wed. Mar. 08
THAMESVILLE
Brunner Centre at Ferguson Park
Essex, Chatham -Kent, Middlesex, Elgin, (Lambton)
Wallace Street
2
Thurs. Mar. 09
STRATFORD
Christian Reformed Church
Perth, Oxford, Huron
190 Athlone Crescent
3
Wed. Mar. 22
PALMERSTON
King Hotel - 112 King St.
'
Dufferin-Wellington, Wellington, Grey -Bruce
For more information or to register, contact the CFFO office. Ph: (519) 837-1620 Fax: (519) 824-1835
E-mail: cffomail@christianfarmers.org
MARCH 2006 7
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