Manitoba politicians and prairie farm groups last week added a new twist to a regional dogfight over federal farm support.
Angry about proposed changes to the way Agriculture Canada distributes safety net money, Manitoba brought the distribution of supply management into its argument.
Ontario and Quebec have disproportionate shares of dairy and poultry production, argued agriculture minister Rosann Wowchuk at the annual meeting of Keystone Agricultural Producers.
The two provinces receive $700 million more from consumers of dairy and poultry than they would receive without the production and import controls afforded by federal regulations.
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In comparison, the prairie provinces receive only $104 million in “regulatory transfers” from the federal government, Wowchuk said.
Manitoba can’t get a larger share of dairy and poultry production, she complained.
And the province stands to lose $10 million a year when safety nets are distributed according to a new formula being touted by all provinces but Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
“They (Ontario and Quebec) are getting more than they deserve right now,” Wowchuk said.
She said she sees no political risk in bringing supply management allocation into the argument over safety net allocation.
“If you want to move toward (allocating safety nets by) cash receipts, then you have to look at the benefits of all the cash receipts.”
Manitoba Agriculture policy analyst Lorne Martin pointed out supply management provides a stable market for feed grain producers in Ontario.
“That high support level (in Ontario and Quebec) also helps the other industries,” said Martin.
“Frankly, we are getting the short end of the stick.”
Don Dewar, president of KAP, said Ontario officials remove their dairy and poultry farm cash receipts when negotiating for a bigger share of safety net dollars.
“They talk dollars, in support, and ignore the regulatory support that stabilizes the industry,” Dewar said.
He said the federal government has gone too far in cutting supports to agriculture, leaving provinces to fight over the scraps.
“We all agree that the federal government is doing a good job of dividing and conquering,” said Dewar.
Bob Friesen, president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, was reluctant to wade into the fray.
The CFA does not take a position on allocating safety nets, he said, other than to argue that the federal government should increase total funding.
Supply management helps stabilize dairy and poultry industries, acknowledged Friesen, who is a turkey producer. But he sidestepped questions on whether the value of supply management should be part of the safety net allocation debate.
“The argument on using supply management as safety net dollars has strictly to do with the provincial governments’ political infighting on which province should receive how much money,” he said.
“Our point is, stop the political fighting, show some leadership. The last thing farmers need now is for both levels of government to be fighting. That’s not getting us anywhere.”
Harold Froese, head of Manitoba Egg Producers, supports the province’s tactic: “At the end of the day, we’re all in the province together.”
It’s not fair for provinces who hold the lion’s share of dairy and poultry quota to also ask for more safety net money for grain producers, he said.
The same provinces are reluctant to let value-added processing for eggs expand in Manitoba, Froese noted.
The president of Dairy Farmers of Canada said it’s inappropriate to suggest supply management is a regional policy aimed at helping just one part of the country.
John Core warned a dairy farmers’ convention last week that regional squabbling is threatening to undermine or destroy supply management.
“Supply management exists across the country,” he said. “It happens there are more farmers who take advantage of it in Eastern Canada, but it is a national policy which benefits all regions,” said Core, who farms at Wyoming, Ont.
He said westerners also should realize the grain industry is national and Ontario farmers are also suffering from low export prices. Core said Dairy Farmers of Canada “fully supports” calls for more government help for the export grain sector.
