CLEAR LAKE, Man. – Les Jacobson sees a tide of financial trouble sweeping over Canada’s farm
industry.
Prices for most farm commodities, including wheat and barley, have dropped this year. In the hog industry, producers are losing money on every animal they sell.
“I think we’re all hurting,” said Jacobson, a farmer from Arborg, Man., and a former president of Keystone Agricultural Producers. “It’s a question of what do you do?”
That question was on the agenda at the KAP meeting here last week. The Manitoba farm lobby wants a national safety net disaster program in place by next spring. It views existing programs as inadequate.
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“It’s a vast problem,” said Jacobson, who serves on the KAP safety net committee. “It’s not just something that a few dollars are going to fix.”
Ottawa is considering a national safety net disaster program. Details of how such a program will be funded are not clear. However, KAP hopes the federal and provincial governments will put “new money” into it rather than drawing from funds for existing safety net programs.
“We have to get something in place pretty soon if we’re going to address this problem,” said KAP president Don Dewar.
Dewar believes the federal and provincial governments must be made more aware of the financial problems facing farmers. KAP plans to step up its efforts to get the message across.
Delegates attending last week’s meeting were urged to phone or write their MLAs and MPs letting them know how serious the situation is.
Net farm income could drop by more than 50 percent of the five-year average this year due to the slump in commodity prices and the rise in transportation costs. The effects of that drop are already being felt by businesses and industries relying on farm spending, said Dewar, citing layoffs at equipment manufacturers.
“It’s already going down the chain.”
