With farm income soaring and agriculture ministers in the final stages of negotiating a new five-year policy framework, Saskatchewan minister Bob Bjornerud sees a window to make farm programs better.
But he doesn’t expect that to happen and comments from other ministers last week support his pessimism.
Good farmgate returns could become a reason to turn attention away from farm support programs as federal and provincial ministers finish their negotiations on a new Growing Forward five-year framework this year before its April 1, 2013 implementation.
“There are negotiations going forward on the next suite of farm programs,” federal minister Gerry Ritz said Feb. 24 in response to a question about the impact of high farmer income projections on negotiations. “Farmers themselves are focused more on science and technology and innovation and they’re looking for more trade. They’ve always said they prefer to get their money from the marketplace and not the mailbox.”
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Many provinces facing demands that deficits be cut also could see farmgate prosperity as a reason to reduce support payment projects.
Ontario’s rookie agriculture minister Ted McMeekin suggested in a Feb. 24 interview the province’s previous refusal to sign a new Growing Forward farm support agreement because it could short-change farmers may no longer be valid.
“We hold these (Growing Forward) discussions with a shared sense of purpose and that is to grow our farmgate in any way we can,” he said. “The new Growing Forward will be a reflection of how we deal with that although it is helpful to go in with a positive (farm income) base.”
Bjornerud said in an interview that with the Saskatchewan government running surpluses while most provinces have to cut spending, good farm returns make farm support programs an easy target for cuts.
But he said this is the time to fix faulty farm supports when there will be little draw on public treasuries in the near term.
