Prairie farmers are being battered by natural and man-made storms and need help, Saskatchewan Wheat Pool president Leroy Larsen says.
The main help from governments would be to fix programs and stop doing things that are threatening the well-being of farmers.
“We have to keep reminding them,” said Larsen. “It’s very easy to forget about (farmers, who are) a very small portion of the population, but we are major contributors to the balance of trade and the economy of this country.”
The pool released an action plan to deal with the cash crunch expected this year for prairie farmers. It calls for the federal government to freeze and reconsider its cost recovery programs, and to reform labor and marine laws.
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The pool plan also calls on the federal and provincial governments to reconsider their rural tax policies, and to come up with a safety net program that will cover all farmers for natural disasters such as droughts.
Halt the subsidies
And it says the federal government should call for an immediate meeting of the International Grains Council to head off a world trade war over grain subsidies.
“There are roles to play by everyone,” said Larsen.
The dry spring, depressed grain prices and the threat of a subsidy war are worrying farmers, Larsen said, and prompted the pool’s action plan. But the issues the company is raising now are simmering problems it has long complained of.
“These are not problems that crept up upon us overnight,” he said. “They’re ongoing.”
Larsen said he was hopeful that changes could come: “I think governments would want to take whatever action that they see necessary to see that our producers of food … are given as much of an opportunity or a level playing field as possible as we try to compete in the global marketplace.”
The action plan was announced two days after the company released poor third-quarter financial results.
It lost $800,000 this year compared to a profit of $1.8 million in last year’s third quarter. The pool was doing well until the third quarter, but then grain deliveries to elevators dropped by 10 percent, hurting revenues and net earnings.
Larsen said the pool’s performance mirrors the farmer’s situation.
“I’ve always said that Saskatchewan Wheat Pool goes as the Saskatchewan farmer goes.”
