How much help does the government give farmers these days, after years of cuts and downsizing?
It depends how it’s calculated.
According to analysis from Agriculture Canada, it could be anywhere from $1 billion to $4 billion.
The lower number is the value of program payments made directly to farmers, from crop insurance and Net Income Stabilization Account funds to the dairy subsidy and the Crow subsidy buyout package.
This year, federal spending on program payouts will be approximately $1 billion, when producer premiums are subtracted.
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A second way to calculate it is to look at departmental budget spending, including the cost of the bureaucracy that administers the various programs.
By that measure, Agriculture Canada spent about $2.2 billion last year and will spend approximately $2 billion this year.
Then, there is the high-end calculation, the one economists like to use. It is a comprehensive number that includes direct spending to producers, indirect spending (such as bureaucratic costs) and transfers from consumers to farmers.
This latter calculation is controversial with some farm leaders. It attempts to calculate the value farmers receive from higher prices that flow from government policy.
In supply-managed commodities, where supplies and prices are regulated by marketing boards, the difference between the cost of a dozen eggs in Canada and a benchmark “world” price is considered a consumer subsidy to farmers.
By that calculation, Agriculture Canada says in 1996-97, “the value of government support to Canadian producers totaled $4 billion.” More than 50 percent was to the benefit of western farmers.
But however they calculate it, the value of government support to farmers has been falling.
Federal economists say that two years ago, for every $100 of agricultural production value in Canada, government benefits to farmers were worth $17.55.
Last year, it had fallen to $13.28.
