Grain and oilseed farmers in Ontario believe they are on the cusp of winning their long political battle for a provincial safety net program based on cost of production.
Provincial agriculture minister Leona Dombrowsky, whose Liberal government faces an autumn election, has asked officials in her department to draw up the outline of a safety net plan by early March.
“Our minister directed her staff to put something together on the outline of a companion program and since there was a tremendous aversion by the government in the past to do this, we see it as a very positive development,” said Ontario Federation of Agriculture president Geri Kamenz.
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“My goal is to have a program or the outline of a program this spring so that when farmers go into their fields, they know what support to expect.”
The province’s farm groups have drawn up a program proposal that would tie support levels for grain and oilseeds to production costs, patterned on support programs in Quebec. Farmers would have to pay a premium to join the program.
Since federal agriculture minister Chuck Strahl has said such a program is impractical nationally because it would cost billions of dollars, the Ontario government likely would be responsible for all the government costs. Until provincial companion programs were phased out several years ago under the agricultural policy framework, Ottawa picked up 60 percent of the government costs of these schemes tailored to specific provincial conditions.
“I do believe there is a chance we will see something,” said Kamenz. “I think with an election coming, we do have some leverage.”
A plea for increased government support was at the core of the OFA pre-budget presentation Feb. 1 to a committee of the Ontario legislature.
Kamenz said the food industry is Ontario’s second largest job creator and yet farm incomes in recent years have been low and volatile.
“Ontario farm incomes should signal to the government that the agricultural industry, the second largest industry in importance to Ontario’s economy, requires unique investments and considerations to ensure the long-term health of the industry,” said the OFA brief.
It said Ontario farmers are ready to provide feedstocks to the bio-energy industry, but the Ontario Energy Board must begin to change regulations to allow on-farm biodigesters to sell power to the provincial grid at a fair price.
A grain and oilseed support system also must be in place so farmers producing for the energy industry will know that they will make money on those sales.
“Production and sale of biofuel has the potential to change the economic fundamentals for Ontario grains and oilseeds farmers,” Kamenz told members of the legislature. “It is imperative, however, in exploiting this new opportunity for domestically produced energy from renewable sources that the producers themselves are not also exploited. Fair pricing regimes for energy inputs that provide a positive return to efficient farmers must be developed and contracted.”
The OFA argues that energy production can be economically competitive even if farmers receive “fair prices” for their feedstocks.
The value of farm product sales in 2005 was $8.2 billion, making Ontario Canada’s largest agricultural province.
