OFA Commentary #4704
Insufficient income for farmers has long been recognized as the industry’s major difficulty. Steps are being taken to find meaningful solutions to that problem.
The Canadian Federation of Agriculture hosted Canada’s first National Symposium on Farm Income recently. Speakers at the event said one of the impediments to finding solutions in the past has been the inclination to search inside the same old box of ideas.
As CFA President Bob Friesen said at the conclusion of the symposium: “This week we have made a good start in establishing the framework for that new box.”
With Canada’s Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Andy Mitchell, and his Parliamentary Secretary Wayne Easter as participants at the symposium, we believe we are well on the way to finding solutions to the farm income problem Canadian farmers have experienced for years.
Both Minister Mitchell and Mr. Easter have pledged their full support to finding and implementing solutions. “It is critical that we create an environment in which producers are able to earn a living,” Minister Mitchell said.
Participants from the United States told symposium delegates that farmers there have the same problems. Various speakers said the dwindling market place for farm produce is a key contributor to the low income problem. As processors consolidate their operations around the world, there are fewer and fewer buyers bidding on farm produce. This continues to drive the prices farmers get for their goods to lower and lower levels.
New consumer requirements for quality, food safety, and traceability are adding to production costs for farmers. Recovering these added costs from the marketplace is a problem farmers and their organizations continue to ponder. We’re hopeful our government partners in this quest for improved farm income will still be with us when increased public funding is identified as an ingredient of the solution.
Dr. Edward Mahoney of Michigan State University said farmers will need to expand their entrepreneurial skills rather than relying on increased production. More of them need to become entrepreneurial small business managers and develop strategies to increase their farm’s income.
Dr. Randall Westgren from the University of Illinois talked about the supply chain and said most are “ill-designed to provide the necessary information” to consumers so they are prepared to compensate producers for the value provided in food products.
Andrew Marsland, assistant deputy minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, from the market and industry services branch, talked about the new partnerships being forged between governments and stakeholders in the agriculture and food sectors. He said long-term success is achievable by food producers, but will depend on the success of the partnerships.
Minister Mitchell urged partners to identify and quantify the impediments to improving farm income. He said the problems must be understood before solutions are introduced. After developing a set of principles to guide future discussions and actions, delegates called on the Canadian Federation of Agriculture to lead the process to the next level.
The Ontario Federation of Agriculture, as a CFA member, will continue to provide input to the search for solutions to Canada’s farm income problems.
~Ron Bonnett~
President, Ontario Federation of Agriculture