OTTAWA — Governments in Canada should reduce their fixation on making preservation of the family farm the centre of their agricultural policies, said a Quebec academic.
Bruno Jean of the University of Quebec, in Rimouski, told the Commons agriculture committee the base of the food policy of the future should be rural policy that encourages people to remain in the country.
It would include policies to promote food production efficiency and provision of public services to rural residents.
Jean, the first witness to appear before the Commons committee as it began seven months of hearings into the future policy needs of the food sector, said he believes rural decline can be reversed and a “rural renaissance” promoted.
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“Today, we need a rural development policy.”
When asked about the place of the family farm, Jean said there is no real threat to the family farm concept, although it is evolving to include bigger units and different ownership arrangements.
“I am always surprised to see how people worry about the disappearance of the family farm.
“Family farms are going through difficult times but the actual structure is not going through difficult times. It is strong.”
MPs heard from other academics invited to testify that the key to the future is marketing and promotion of value-added production.
Robert Saint-Louis of Laval University, in Quebec City, said food policies should be revised.
He suggested a Canadian food bill that would promote food processing and other value-added enterprise.
A long-term approach
George Brinkman from the University of Guelph warned that while improved marketing can make the sector strong in the long term, the intervening years could be difficult.
Real farm incomes have fallen dramatically in the past two decades and the worth of farm equity also has dropped sharply, he said.
Yet governments are reducing the aid they are willing to make available to farmers to keep them in business until market returns improve.
Brinkman said deficit-reduction pressures will further squeeze government aid even as farmers struggle to adjust their operations to new market realities.
“This is the real quandary we face from the standpoint on income.”
On the issue of government aid, Alberta Reform MP Leon Benoit insisted farmers do not need or want government help.
Jean concurred: “I agree with what you are saying. I am convinced family farms don’t need government. Sometimes, it is even harmful.”
