There are more than enough burning issues in Canadian agriculture to occupy farmers’ attention – Canadian Wheat Board marketing powers, disposition of government-owned hopper cars, crop insurance, safety nets, etc.
But, despite the importance of all these issues, it might be worthwhile to put them aside for the moment and contemplate larger, longer-term problems.
At a farm writers’ meeting last month, agriculture minister Ralph Goodale noted that the world has only about 60 days’ inventory of grain.
That’s an alarmingly small amount, considering all the potential disasters that can interfere with crops.
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When you consider that, by his estimate, there are 800 million human beings who do not get adequate nutrition, there is real cause for alarm.
When world grain stocks fall to minimum levels, shortages and price increases can cause immense suffering in impoverished countries.
On the other hand, years of so-called surpluses can depress prices and leave grain producers hard hit by rising input costs.
But there is an obvious solution. If the world’s grain exporters and importers could only agree on the mechanics, a global grain reserve could be established. When crops are short, the reserve could release stocks to maintain food supplies and prevent prices from soaring.
In times of bumper crops, the global reserve could absorb excess supplies and shield farmers from the extremes of market-driven price collapses.
That was the basic goal of the old International Grains Agreement, which Goodale cited as a possible model for international co-operation.
It’s also compatible with recent remarks by U.S. agriculture undersecretary Gene Moos, who called for replenishment of global grain stocks.
There are, of course, innumerable potential problems with the concept. Some mechanisms, for example, would have to be found to prevent the existence of a strategic global grain reserve from depressing normal grain markets.
Importing nations would have to understand that the price they pay for moderation of price surges is refraining from taking full advantage of price-depressing forces.
Exporting nations would have to accept the fact that they would not be entitled to squeeze every penny out of the market when supplies are tight and starvation is threatening.
Those are real challenges.
But, as Goodale told the farm writers, “when 800 million people go to bed hungry in this world, that at least behooves us all to try harder to come to grips with the issue.”
