CANBERRA, Australia – The Australian government is paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to control predators as a result of its decision to release the deadly rabbit calicivirus disease at 280 sites around Australia next month.
The announcement was welcomed by farmers who hope the disease will eradicate at least 80 percent of the estimated 200 million rabbits infesting the country. If successful, the National Farmers’ Federation said this would boost farmers’ income by $800 million (Aus).
But if it succeeds it will also mean a major food source for dingoes and foxes will be severely curtailed, forcing these predators to turn to native and domestic animals for food.
Read Also
Interest in biological crop inputs continues to grow
It was only a few years ago that interest in alternative methods such as biologicals to boost a crop’s nutrient…
The federal government has given $2 million toward the cost of the rabbit disease release and a spokesperson said part of this money will be used to monitor predators.
Primary industries minister John Anderson described the virus release as a historic event and good news for agriculture and the environment.
“Rabbits are Australia’s most serious agricultural and environmental pest and (the virus) can play an important role in controlling them,” he said.
“They eat pasture, crops, forests, tree plantations and native vegetation; they compete with livestock for food; they contribute to land degradation and soil erosion; and they reduce options for land managers to control grazing pressure and respond to drought.
“They also compete with native animals for food and shelter and support high numbers of predators which prey on native animals,” Anderson said.
The release program was accelerated after the virus escaped from quarantine testing on an island off South Australia almost a year ago. It quickly spread to all states.
SASKATOON – Farmers from across the country will be in Ottawa this week telling the federal cabinet why they should get the government’s 13,000 grain hopper cars.
The Farmer Rail Car Coalition, which now includes representatives from the Prairies, Ontario and British Columbia, was to meet with key cabinet members Sept. 24-25.
Coalition spokesperson Patty Smith said the car sale is still intensely political and it’s important government officials know how much support there is for farmer ownership.
“We intend to go over the reasons why producers want to own the cars and identify why this is important to the agricultural industry and to the Canadian economy,” she said.
While federal agriculture minister Ralph Goodale has been positive about the farmers’ bid, Smith said the coalition wants to make sure it has done everything possible to gain government support.
“Goodale has been a very strong supporter of our initiative and we would like to help him out at the cabinet table by touching base with some other ministers personally to make our case.”
The delegation is expected to include coalition chair Sinclair Harrison, president of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities, along with representatives from Ontario wheat and corn producer groups and the B.C. Federation of Agriculture.
The BCFA joined the coalition last week, after reaching an agreement over car availability and freight costs for B.C. shippers.
“BCFA continues to insist that domestic rates to B.C. must be based on an economically justifiable relationship to export rates,” said federation president Jake Janzen, adding the government should sell the cars to farmers for a price that won’t boost freight rates.
Smith said the coalition is talking to Quebec’s powerful farm group Union des Producteurs Agricoles about joining the coalition and hopes to get a letter of support from the West Coast Grain Workers Union, which could help influence transport minister David Anderson, who hails from Victoria.
At an Aug. 29 meeting in Winnipeg, officials from Transport Canada met with a number of parties interested in bidding on the cars, including the farmer coalition, the two national railways, a number of grain companies and several rail leasing and transportation firms.
They were told the government hopes to have the final terms and conditions for the sale ready by the end of September or early October. Soon after that, a conference will be held to allow each potential buyer to discuss the conditions directly with the group overseeing the sale.
Bidders will have until March 1997 to submit their proposal, with a decision being made in time to transfer ownership by the beginning of the new crop year Aug. 1, 1997. However, Smith said the timetable could be pushed back.
The thorny issue of whether the railways will have the right to match any offer for the cars has still not been resolved and that could delay the process.
