Government involvement in agriculture has receded dramatically in the past decade. Provincial governments have played a role, but the change has come mainly at the hands of the Stephen Harper Conservatives. A dramatically stronger farm economy has improved the palatability of the changes.
Attitudes have shifted. Slowly agriculture is being treated as just another industry rather than a sector with entitlement that needs special attention and protection.
Enhancing trade, going to bat for producers in trade disputes such as country of origin labelling and ensuring a responsive grain transportation industry are without doubt vital government initiatives. Direct involvement in the business is no longer in vogue.
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The dismantling of the Canadian Wheat Board is the most obvious example, but farm safety nets are likely to be a future battleground.
The days of stadiums filled with farmers demanding ad hoc billions to compensate for dismal grain returns seems like an eon ago. Provincial governments are no longer currying favour with farmers by berating Ottawa over the inadequacy of farm support programs.
Detailed debates on farm programs have been replaced by confusion and complacency.
Can you explain in detail how AgriStability is supposed to work? Are you confident it has your back when farm income crashes?
While relatively inexpensive to stay enrolled, there’s a cost to be paid for your accountant to do all the work. A lot of farmers opted out following the changes several years ago, making it less attractive as an income stabilization scheme.
Past election campaigns featured specific promises on farm safety net programming. This time around, it doesn’t appear to be on the political radar screen.
Nor does there seem to be any consensus among farmers about how support programs should be altered or replaced.
With grain prices relatively strong, crop insurance is the first line of defence and it will make large payments for drought damaged crops in Alberta and parts of Saskatchewan this year.
The NDP government in Alberta is relying on crop insurance to take the sting out of the drought and rightly so.
However, at some future time, grain prices will be too low to cover costs and crop insurance doesn’t solve that problem. This is a policy debate we should be having now rather than in the midst of a crisis.
It is doubtful that governments of any stripe will significantly enhance farm safety nets. Nor will the general withdrawal from agricultural support be curtailed no matter what party forms the next federal government.
Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration community pastures are gone. In some cases, the transition to rancher control has been relatively smooth. At other pastures, patrons remain upset.
Agriculture Canada is moving away from variety development for most crops, although work will continue on specific traits. While many decry this change, in most cases variety development will be better served by the private sector.
That farmers will have to pay rather than taxpayers is just part of the larger trend. Agriculture is being treated as a business. Whether you find this scary or refreshing depends on your point of view, but don’t expect the trend to change anytime soon.
