Ontario farmers continue to struggle with finances because of the BSE crisis, and rumoured announcements of more government funding continue to be rumours. We have called on both federal and provincial governments to provide a cash infusion for livestock producers, but we’re still waiting.
Producers have a keen appetite for information about anything that might help them survive the crisis. They watch their mail box, their fax machine, or their email, hoping for some good news that will spell survival for them and their families.
As I tour the province, talking with farmers, the shortage of cash and the lack of a possible date for re-opening the border are the primary reasons for frustration. Many are also angered by stories that someone else is making money on the backs of farmers.
It’s obvious there is no single solution that will pull our livestock sector out of the depression stage it has reached now. While the addition of more dollars would go a long way to strengthening the confidence of livestock farmers and other connected to the sector, there would still remain a number of difficulties to overcome.
Without immediate cash, farmers cannot move ahead with the planning required for the balance of the year on their farms.
The growing number of cows is a major concern. A strategy is needed to reduce that number, and the industry wants to make that a positive measure – ensuring the resulting beef product is useful to society. We need additional processing capacity in Canada, and without any clear plan to achieve this, there continues to be more questions than answers.
Another aspect of a recovery strategy that has to be developed is returning stability to the market place for livestock producers – and that’s neither going to be quick nor easy. We aren’t certain what export markets might be there for us as we regain access to various markets around the world.
It seems very likely that the livestock industry Canadian producers once knew will not be the industry of the future. It’s important that producers wishing to remain in the industry are given the tools to do so. It is equally important that farmers who decide they want out of the industry can do so with dignity.
Working with the Ontario Cattlemen’s Association and our national partners at the Canadian Federation of Agriculture and the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture continues to be committed to finding solutions that will help our producers.
This has been an extremely difficult year for livestock producers and a number of other sectors associated with that sector. Producers contact the OFA office daily expressing grave concern for their future and the future of their families.
These producers want and deserve solutions that will give them hope for the future. At OFA we continue to work with our governments to find those solutions.
~Ron Bonnett~
President, Ontario Federation of Agriculture