TORONTO – Despite a rising chorus of farmer voices calling for immediate changes to dysfunctional safety net programs, agriculture ministers decided Feb. 5 to wait at least until July to consider changes.
Federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz told a news conference after a federal-provincial ministers’ meeting that ministers did not move partly because they have not yet decided what to do and partly because they do not know how much their governments will let them spend.
“We want to assess (programs) on farmgate friendliness,” he said. “We’ve always said these programs have to be bankable and predictable. They also have to be bankable and predictable for our treasury boards and our finance departments, so I’m not going to commit to any specifics at this point.”
Ministers next meet in Saskatoon in early July.
Farm leaders had urged ministers to immediately agree to some changes in AgriStability that they say could help get more money out to the cattle and hog sectors.
“I am very disappointed,” Canadian Federation of Agriculture president Laurent Pellerin said after listening to the ministers.
“There are some things they can do, should have done today, yesterday. Planning for the longer term is fine but farmers live in the short term and for many, these programs are not working.”
Included among CFA demands is a call for a change in AgriStability rules to eliminate the “viability test” that requires an eligible farmer to have been profitable in two of the past three years, improving coverage levels for negative margins (losses) and increasing payment caps for larger producers.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business, which says it represents 7,200 agribusiness operators, added its voice to the call for change.
