The cattle producers lobby is insisting that the next Canadian government to be elected Oct. 14 compensate them if it continues to inflict regulatory policies that impose costs not faced by competitors.
“The Canadian cattle industry is struggling to compete in the face of several pressures justified as seeking to ensure food safety, animal care, the environment or some other objective,” the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association said in its election manifesto last week.
Read Also
Ag in Motion speaker highlights need for biosecurity on cattle operations
Ag in Motion highlights need for biosecurity on cattle farms. Government of Saskatchewan provides checklist on what you can do to make your cattle operation more biosecure.
Producers agree with those objectives.
“Unfortunately, regulatory proposals are frequently not scientifically justified and almost never consider the ability of cattle and other agricultural producers to compete,” the CCA said in a missive to all parties.
“If government determines it is necessary to impose costs on Canadian farmers, ranchers and food processors not faced by our international competitors, it is only fair that they provide assistance to ensure we are not disadvantaged by those additional costs.”
The CCA message to campaigning politicians was part of a blizzard of farmer announcements last week as lobby groups tried to position themselves to influence the debate leading up to the election.
The Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) will hold a national farm critics debate Sept. 29 in Toronto.
The message from farmers to politicians was far from uniform.
For example, the CFA insists that national safety net programs be changed to allow federal support for regionally designed programs.
“Farmers seek responsive and flexible risk management tools to provide stability for farmers to mitigate uncontrollable business factors,” federation vice-president Laurent Pellerin said in an election statement.
“CFA’s AgriFlex proposal would provide such support by responding to regional and commodity-specific needs.”
Grain Growers of Canada begged to differ. The more conservative national lobby insisted national safety net rules are necessary.
“Some farm groups are calling for regional flexibility in federal money, which risks moving our agriculture policy back to a range of piecemeal programs with wide variation between provinces,” British Columbia producer and GGC president Ross Ravelli said in a letter to most party leaders Sept. 10.
“This also greatly increases the risk of trade action being applied against all producers for the effects of one provincial program.”
CFA also insisted that Canada’s trade policy continue to support expanding export access while protecting Canada’s import-sensitive supply managed sectors.
The CCA told politicians that is a wrongheaded approach. An aggressive and liberalizing World Trade Organization deal could open up at least $1 billion in annual export market opportunities for Canada’s beef sector, it said.
Much of this benefit could be sacrificed if exemptions for so-called sensitive products are not kept in check, said the CCA.
“Many countries consider beef, pork, grains and oilseeds to be sensitive and, if given the chance, would maintain high tariffs to limit imports of such Canadian products to their markets.
“Unfortunately, Canada’s present negotiating mandate to make no tariff cuts on any of Canada’s sensitive products jeopardizes the future of the Canadian beef and other export-dependent agriculture sectors.”
The CCA also insists that until competitors such as the United States impose specified risk material removal requirements as strict and costly as Canada’s, Ottawa should “assist the industry for the higher cost of operating in Canada.”
While CFA urged the government to respect farmers’ rights to have marketing systems they support, Grain Growers told politicians the debate over the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly has been decided and the government should respect the demand to end the single desk.
“Will your party respect the democratic wishes of prairie barley farmers and immediately implement marketing choice for barley?” Ravelli asked party leaders.
“Will your party respect the wishes of the many prairie wheat producers who wish to market their grain outside of the CWB monopoly and work with them to develop a mechanism for that within one year?”
The one point all farm groups agreed upon is that all parties should clearly lay out an agriculture policy and make it a prominent part of their campaign.
