The Conference Board of Canada embraces the mantra that “all growth is good.”
Its plan to change supply management for growth is a prescription for weakening, if not eliminating, the three pillars of supply management for dairy production in Canada — production controls, import tariffs and farmers’ cost of production pricing — to produce more milk, lower its price and increase exports.
The conference board claims to be an independent think-tank but is affiliated with the New York-based Conference Board, which is run by and for U.S.-based multinational corporations. While pretending to serve the public, it advocates for a suite of policies, such as dismantling dairy supply management, that promote corporate interests at the ex-pense of the values and aspirations of Canadian people.
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Dairy supply management had its beginnings in the 1960s, when dairy processors were using erratic milk hauling practices to depress farm-gate prices paid to farmers.
Farmers were faced with delivering milk at whatever price they could get or lose it all.
Ontario and Quebec farmers protested and demanded government action. In 1969, a new system had the government regulate farmgate prices based on farmers’ cost of production in return for farmers producing a constant flow of high quality milk along with quotas to prevent over-production. Since then, provincial milk marketing boards have successfully managed procurement, marketing, quotas, quality control and government regulation.
Canada’s dairy supply management operates smoothly, efficiently and sustainably without government subsidies, in contrast to other Canadian agricultural sectors, where AgriStability payments are often needed to support farm incomes and overcome depressed commodity prices.
The conference board now promotes increasing dairy production beyond Canadian needs to export.
There is definitely capacity in Canada to produce a lot more milk, but what kind of export markets could we pursue, what kind of programs would be required to obtain those markets and what net benefits would there be for various players in the system?
Only a small portion of the world’s milk production crosses borders because it is a bulky perishable product. Most exports depend on subsidies, often obscured as indirect production supports to comply with trade agreements.
American dairy farmers receive U.S. farm bill-related payments that nearly double their milk cheques.
European subsidies provide dairy farmers a base income, allowing them to survive on lower farmgate prices.
The exception is New Zealand, a major dairy exporter with few or no subsidies. With the world’s lowest production cost because of its lack of winters, it can sell at the world’s lowest farmgate prices.
Dismantling dairy supply management would be costly for Canadian taxpayers. To compete internationally, we would have to match the massive subsidies given by the U.S. and European countries. Dairy farmers in Canada would receive lower prices for milk, be subjected to less transparent pricing and require government bail-out programs such as AgriStability to keep operating.
Ironically, the conference board’s dairy plan is modelled after the deregulated export-oriented hog and beef sectors, which have not only failed to grow but have seen a steady decline punctuated by several crises over the past 15 years.
The conference board suggests that an export-oriented dairy system with lower farmgate prices would result in lower prices for consumers. In reality, retailers charge what the market will bear. New Zealand consumers pay among the highest prices for dairy in spite of their farmers’ low cost of production.
Canadians value dairy supply management because they enjoy a steady supply of high quality products for a reasonable price. An unregulated dairy market would centralize production, processing and distribution, requiring consumers in distant areas to pay more because of transportation and storage costs.
Dismantling dairy supply management would help companies affiliated with the conference board, such as food processors and retailers, and those industries that have their eyes on massive concessions at the trade deal table. Their gain would be a huge loss for Canadian citizens and Canadian dairy farmers.
Jan Slomp is president of the National Farmers Union and a dairy farmer from Rimbey, Alta.
