There is little prospect that grain prices will increase significantly during the next several years and without more government support, thousands of farmers will not survive in the industry, senior Canadian Wheat Board officials said last week.
Along with University of Saskat-chewan economists, they traveled to Parliament Hill to suggest that only an increase in government support will help farmers through the crisis.
There will not be a near-term market improvement.
The long-term prospect for food producers is positive, board president Greg Arason told the House of Commons agriculture committee Nov. 23.
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“However, given the current farm financial situation in Western Canada and the market outlook for the medium term, there is a real possibility that many producers may not remain in business long enough to realize these future opportunities,” he told MPs.
Arason said a recent CWB survey of farmers indicated 67 percent of respondents expect to lose money this year.
“A shocking 47 percent of respondents indicated that they will be out of business if the next couple of years are financially the same as this year,” he said.
He noted that world trade talks start this week and issues of subsidy and over supply can be discussed there.
“In the interim, there is a pressing need for effective support programs to bridge the gap and help ensure the survival of Canadian farmers over the medium term.”
Far in future
University of Saskatchewan agricultural economist and former Saskatchewan deputy agriculture minister Hartley Furtan said even if trade talks succeed in reducing price-depressing subsidies, it will take a long time for the effect to filter down to the farm.
“I would say at least 10 years,”
he told Alberta Reform MP Rick
Casson.
During a Commons committee hearing on the prairie farm income and safety net situation, the witnesses presented a grim picture.
U of S economist Richard Gray said real grain prices have been declining for more than a century and will continue to decline. Meanwhile, costs have been increasing.
