When dairy producer Jacques Laforge from Grand Falls, N.B., was congratulated on his election as president of Dairy Farmers of Canada, he hesitated and then laughed.
“Thanks, I guess,” he said, suggesting the election to head the country’s dairy farmer lobby might be a mixed blessing.
The 49-year-old farmer takes over the dairy lobby at a time when the industry feels it is under political and economic siege.
The DFC insists that milk price increases are not keeping up with the rising costs of production and falling revenues associated with BSE.
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In Geneva, negotiators have established a World Trade Organization negotiating framework that supply management defenders say undermines the system’s ability to protect itself from cheaper imports.
And in Canada, domestic critics continue to insist there is no place for supply management protectionism in a trade-liberalizing world.
“We understand the challenges and they are not small ones,” Laforge said. “But we’re ready to tackle them.”
Laforge was elected president during DFC’s annual general meeting July 19-21 in Moncton. The position became vacant when former president Jean Gregoire was appointed to the Canadian Dairy Commission, a government agency that sets dairy support prices.
Laforge operates a 400-acre farm in northern New Brunswick that includes a 140-head Holstein dairy herd, a 250-head feedlot and 300 acres of corn, peas and grain.
He said DFC members are disappointed that the dairy commission turned down their request for a special milk price increase Sept. 1 to compensate for the added costs and falling revenue that have hit dairy operations since BSE was discovered in Canada last year.
However, he noted that the DFC has promised a “significant” price announcement in December to take effect Feb. 1.
As well, by February 2006, the commission says prices will have increased enough to guarantee that at least half of Canada’s 17,000 dairy farmers receive their cost of production from milk sales.
“We just hope the dairy commission has the same definition of ‘significant’ as dairy farmers do,” Laforge said.
He also noted that significant price increases will be needed in 2005 and 2006 to meet the goal of covering the cost of production of at least half the industry.
“I guess we’re not na•ve and I’m certain the necessary increases will create criticism by different groups,” he said.
In fact, as delegates were gathering in Moncton, they had a taste of that criticism.
The Globe and Mail newspaper published two columns alleging that dairy protectionism means consumers pay too much for dairy products and that dairy farmers are out of touch with market realities. DFC quickly prepared a response.
“We are making the argument that consumer prices are not higher here than in the United States and that we have a system that is fair both to producers and consumers,” Laforge said. “But I know we’ll continue to face that kind of criticism.”
He said the industry also is worried the WTO framework could force lower over-quota tariffs and perhaps an increased domestic market share to imports.
