The author of a report calling for political action that would give farmers more marketplace power and higher incomes says one of the biggest impediments to achieving that goal is the bureaucracy at Agriculture Canada.
“I would say the most reluctance comes from the department,” said Liberal MP Wayne Easter, parliamentary secretary to agriculture minister Andy Mitchell.
“I’m not impressed by their reaction, or more accurately their lack of reaction.”
Easter added it is important that he impress upon senior Agriculture Canada bureaucrats that this is not just another report to be filed away to collect dust.
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“I am going to work hard to make sure that something comes of this,” said the Prince Edward Island MP and former National Farmers Union president. “This challenges their view of business-as-usual and I meant to challenge that. This is not going to disappear.”
Easter’s report analyzed and proposed solutions to chronically weak and falling farm incomes.He concluded the primary problem is that agribusiness has too much market power and farmers have too little. He said efficiency has increased at the farm level but rather than boosting farm incomes, it has led to higher profits for other links in the agri-food chain.
Response from most primary producers has been positive but Easter acknowledged there have been negative reactions from representatives of the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance, Agricore United and affiliated farm groups.
“I would expect groups that have power in the system or those that are part of their network would react negatively to what I had to say. If they had not, I would wonder if I had gotten it right.”
Rod Scarlett, executive director of Wild Rose Agricultural Producers in Alberta, said the most recent farm income figures are a sign that governments should take Easter’s observations and recommendations seriously.
“This really should make farmers and politicians and the public look at Mr. Easter’s report and see that it is a good starting point for a debate on how to get farmers off government dependence and back onto making their living from the market,” he said.
