Sky divers
Farming in Canada in the spring of 2006 is just like sky diving. As rough as the past year had been with low grain prices, no movement, the jump in fuel and other inputs, I expected some kind of help from the government to produce food for the nation again.
I was given notice that I would not receive any aid but instead owed money; Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization money sent in 2003 and all the BSE money must be returned.
I falsely thought that at the time when I was selling grain at below the cost of production and cows at five cents to 12 cents per pound, the government of Canada had stepped in to help me.
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Agriculture needs to prepare for government spending cuts
As government makes necessary cuts to spending, what can be reduced or restructured in the budgets for agriculture?
I know that the government of Canada in their wisdom will now ask the meat packers to pay back to the Canadian cattlemen some of the vast profits generated during the BSE setup.
How many schools and hospitals would be open tomorrow if the nurses and teachers were told there had been a slight mistake and they had to pay back wages from 2003?
I know I will never again fill out a government form laying out my farm inventory. Think of it, if someone used that Ottawa computer and used all the farmers’ data and then played the stock market, that would pay better than any casino. As it turned out they obtained all my information at no cost to themselves.
Farming today is like stepping in the ring with Mohammed Ali in his prime with your hands tied.
I thought this new government had a plan other than blaming the last plan. They seem only interested in making nice with our neighbours to the south.
I’d like to tell them a secret. They’ve been kicking the hell out of Canadian agriculture for 25 years. How else would it be in the shape it is?
People that sky dive are given a parachute. The government of Canada threw me a 100 lb. anvil in the spring of 2006 and I will never forget it.
– Miles Moore,
Outlook, Sask.
Claim the chain
For years I have questioned the relevance of the Canadian Wheat Board’s involvement in Canada’s farming industry.
At times I feel secure about the thought of marketing my product through a monopoly, the strongest of all business structures, knowing other countries would give their front teeth to have the marketing system Canada has in place. I must admit there are many times I am frustrated with the lack of vision and direction the board portrays.
A monopoly has the power to eliminate the collusion existing with input retailers. I feel the board should become a purchasing agent for inputs on behalf of all farmers and buy in incredibly large quantities, from anywhere in the world. This could be funded with a portion of our spring advance money.
We must compete with the world when selling our grain; it is only reasonable that farm input suppliers compete with the world for our business. …
A monopoly is a tremendously powerful tool. We need to identify its strengths and opportunities, but most of all we need to implement them.
If the CWB wants to survive and be the sole marketer of our grains, it is critical it diversify to obtain more revenue than the world market is willing to pay.
As farmers, we have been at the bottom of the food chain long enough.
It’s our chain. Let’s claim it.
– Stephen E. Tkachyk,
Fannystelle, Man.
Utopian belief
Nettie Wiebe (WP, Moral Economy, April 6) propagates ideas that are neither moral nor reflect an understanding of basic economic principles.
Private ownership of the means of production is a necessary requisite of civilization and material well-being. It is only in regions where governments are committed to the principle of private property that individuals have risen above penury and produced science, art, literature and wealth.
History proves and teaches that development will not occur where there is no private property or respect for private property.
The interventionist and/or totalitarian governments in the impoverished regions to which Wiebe refers tolerate private property only when compelled to do so. The resulting bareness and distress wrought by their central planning is plain for all to see.
Rather than highlight how the absence of private property rights and restrictions on free enterprise impairs the productivity of labour and reduces consumption opportunities, incorrigible socialists like Wiebe cling to the utopian belief that the burden of scarcity can be lifted with the “correct” utilization of current capital and factors of production.
The line of thought goes that once the altruistic and omniscient bureaucrat grabs the reins of the economy and guides the factors to their correct application, problems and scarcity will fade away and the Land of Cockaigne will appear on the horizon.
Immanuel Kant declared that authorities who tried to do this would be allocating to themselves the ability to see things with the eyes of God. There have always been kings and dictators who have assigned to themselves this superhuman mission.
Along with many nasty despots, the author of the Moral Economy mistakenly believes she has this ability as well.
– Danny LeRoy,
Lethbridge, Alta.
Crime fighting
The April 4 Throne Speech has an obvious inconsistence.
Crime reduction is welcome by all except the criminal minds. The new Conservative government feels crime reduction is based on “do the crime, do the time.” Such a move will result in longer prison terms and more prisons.
If crime is to be reduced in such a way, that would require increased taxation. According to the Throne Speech, we can expect reduced taxation.
Now how do they intend to implement a more expensive system and reduce taxation? Expose the public to a higher national debt? … Or will they reduce public services? Increasing the police force will increase detection and taxation, but will it really serve the public?…
If the Harper administration were serious about crime reduction, he would take serious action against the elements that contribute toward crime.
People who recall the changes during the last 10, 20 or more years need not be reminded as the rich became richer, the poor became poorer and an increase in crime followed.
In addition, takeovers resulted in fewer farms and businesses; also increased unemployment. A certain way to reduce crime is to halt or reverse takeovers. To prove his sincerity, Harper could become a great leader by trying to halt or reverse inflation….
– Stuart Makaroff,
Saskatoon, Sask.
Robber barons
Subtracting government payments, grain producers in recent years have realized a negative net farm income, even lower than it was during the depression years of the Dirty Thirties.
This is happening despite the fact that during the last two generations, farmers have posted the highest efficiency gains of any sector of the Canadian economy.
As fast as we achieve them, our efficiency gains are taken away from us through ever escalating input costs and lower prices for the grain that we produce….
In your personal opinion what needs to be done to solve this desperate unjust farm economic problem?
The above question and background information was intended for federal agriculture minister Chuck Strahl at the Yorkton March 23 agriculture forum.
Verbal questions from the floor to the minister were not permitted. However, written submissions could be submitted for consideration. The above submission did not survive the screening process despite the fact that it highlights the most pressing problem faced by prairie grain producers in nearly a century.
While grain producers are trying to cope with negative net incomes, the transnational ag related corporations are coming up with record profits. It greatly upsets me when they destroy our livelihood through their power and greed.
The message is clear. The robber barons are at it again and the federal Conservative government refuses to do anything about it or even to acknowledge the cause of the problem….
– George E. Hickie,
Waldron, Sask.
Grain delivery
The debate over the future of the Canadian Wheat Board has taken on its second wind with the election of the Conservative government.
Like adding more gasoline to a smouldering fire that one hopes would have soon got out, it has gotten relentless. It saddens me that farmers are so divided, so little wonder that there is so much poverty out here. Judging by some of the vilifying letters against the CWB, its authors equate it to the pillars of Satan himself; to be done away with, forthwith….
It’s not that the dual marketing concept has not been studied and debated. People of reasonable minds and vast experience in economics have put the issue through a fine microscope, only to find considerable inadequacies in the concept. No doubt, for some, there would be considerable advantages, but, on the whole, for the majority and especially, smaller farmers, we’d be doing away with a good thing….
We have a sort of dual market system now; domestic and export. With the frozen wheat of two years ago, the free market got the heavier stuff and the board got the crap to try and sell abroad. …
For the benefit of the younger readers and revelations of farmer mentality even back a few years, I want to tell you a story. It was back in the early 1960s; good crops, elevators full, no markets hardly at all. We had a quota system in place in order that every farmer had a kick at the can when space became available.
That one year, we had a seven bushel quota for all year. We hadn’t smelled out the Chinese market yet.
Well, sir, smoke signals had it that the board had declared a one bu. quota and Gronlid’s three elevators would be getting so many cars. There would be the appointed day of delivery and chance to pay off some bills.
Those were tough times. Grain hauling was done with anything from a two ton down to a 50 bu. half ton. An owner of any two ton was a prominent farmer already; someone you looked up to.
When sunrise came, there was a sight to see. The road into town was lining up solid with a motley of conveyances to get this grain in. Even tractors without cabs, pulling a wagon box. One guy had a car with tire-chains pull in a jag on wheels.
Yet within that collection of grain-totes, one fella stood out. He was in the line-up also, with a big truck filled to the brim. Pulling behind, to some makeshift hitch, was a sizeable rubber-tired trailer, also full.
To add insult to injury, he had another truck behind that yet, that he dug out of the snow at the local dealer and got himself a one-day licence, and that was heaped to the brim.
For you see, there was only the one chance to get a load in, for the end of the day, the cars would be loaded and some may have to go home with their loads undelivered. …
Now who do you suppose, within that array of farmers, would make an excellent candidate for membership in the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association?
– Harry Beskorovayny,
Gronlid, Sask.
Growling stomachs
In the last while, newspapers have been glowing with negative vibes surrounding the sad state of affairs in the agricultural community. In almost every media form, including rural and agricultural newspapers, reports, columns and articles abound on the topic of the sad state of commodity prices.
It can get to you after a while.
The responsibility of feeding the world is not an easy task. As we approach 6.5 billion people on our planet, we’re placing huge demands on agriculture. Yet few people ever ponder on the outcome of a situation where demand for food would exceed production, a fine line that can have disastrous effects.
If the media in general would adopt a more positive attitude, instead of feeding people’s insatiable addiction to negative gossip, the public’s reaction towards agriculture might improve.
A prime example is CBC broadcasting footage of guys dressed in radiation proof suits, killing chickens that are allegedly infected with a deadly virus, while the family is watching TV during their roast chicken dinner.
Add to that Hollywood celebrities who repeatedly attack the science of harvesting furs, the tree huggers who freak out every time someone develops a glyphosate-friendly crop, and environmentalists who change their theories every time the wind changes direction, and what you create is a population that is completely misinformed as to where their food sources derive.
I often wonder where these celebrity seekers and predictors of gloom and doom will hide when the day arrives that 6.5 billion people’s demand for food has exceeded the available supply.
The future depends on developing new sources of food and energy that are ultimately one and the same.
Saskatchewan has large supplies of oil, uranium and endless potential and resources for advanced crop sciences. Perhaps we need to ignore Pamela Anderson and the Beatles, and start listening to the growling stomachs of 6.5 billion hungry people.
– John Hamon,
Gravelbourg, Sask.
CWB stand
Dwayne Anderson, Canadian Wheat Board director, said the worst thing the current CWB elected board of directors can do is fight change.
We understand Mr. Anderson taking the same stand as the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association, representing the multinational grain and chemical companies.
Remember, Mr. Anderson and the WCWGA indicated it was OK for the Crow Rate to go. Now we are paying $1.61 per bushel to ship our grain or about $15,000 per farmer….
There is something wrong with the system. The inland terminals, railways and chemical companies are doing very well, and yet farmers are going broke.
If the open market is so great, why are U.S. farmers living off government handouts? It seems for the last 30 years, U.S. farmers are getting welfare cheques yearly.
To bring Mr. Anderson up to date, Section 47.1 of the CWB Act requires that a vote be held among producers before any commodity is removed from board jurisdiction.
I want the CWB to stand up for us farmers. The CWB won 14 trade wars with the U.S. about export wheat.
Remember the winter of 1997 when railroads refused to haul our grain? Again the CWB won that case against the railroads….
– Edward Sagan,
Melville, Sask.
Local suppliers
Re: Good competition by Greg Popove, (Open Forum, March 9.)
Competition by definition means two or more players competing for something, in this instance the producer’s fertilizer budget.
In my area there are three fertilizer suppliers and if I go out today for some price quotes, they will all pretty much give me the same prices. One might be a little cheaper than the other but not very much. So yes, there is competition but personally I think not enough of it. It is after all only local.
When it comes to the money I must spend, there can never be enough competition and I don’t care where it comes from.
Fertilizer apparently does not have to compete in a global market, otherwise it would not be possible for Farmers of North America to bring in fertilizer from plants half way around the world and still sell it at a much lower price than the locally produced product.
Canadian farmers, on the other hand, have to compete in a global market. We were told lots of times we have to be very efficient to be able to compete with farmers in other countries, some of them highly subsidized.
So if the local suppliers of farm inputs can’t keep up with the global competition, they’d better become more efficient.
– Uwe Quedenbaum,
Barrhead, Alta.
Farmers know
I’d like to thank P. A. Hetherington of Moose Jaw (Open Forum, April 6) for the truths he portrayed in his article “Seed less.”
I’m a strong believer that it is time for the farmers to do the thinking for their individual farms and not the chemical, seed and fertilizer companies telling farmers how to farm.
Who knows the farm land better than the farmers themselves?
– Margaret Chibri,
Neilburg, Sask.
Told you so
Five years ago, while in Ottawa speaking before Senators and MPs, we predicted that in five years, if nothing drastic were done, there would not be a cheque big enough to save agriculture. We predicted that the U.S., with its dramatic takeovers, would be a factor. We warned they would go after the food industry with a vengeance.
So where are we in 2006? The American cattle industry tried to gain control of the beef industry and failed. It backfired as Canadian cattlemen woke up and finally said, “let’s build our own slaughter plants.”…
In relation to the grain industry, a major grain company in both Canada and the U.S. has purchased record amounts of grain land in the major grain producing states south of the border. This will not be enough and they still need control. Where does Canada come in? We have a very weak grain industry right now. If a major land buying force came in, they could buy all the farmland in Saskatchewan for a song….
This grain company already owns a fertilizer plant. It has an elevator system and in the U.S. it has a large interest in oil. If indeed this company does buy up Saskatchewan farmland, will this province gain? No.
Large companies like this buy their machinery direct from the factory. They will import all of their inputs from their American concerns and most of the workers will come from the U.S. as seasonal help. Now 38,000 farmers will become just one.
This service industry that relates to agriculture will lose approximately 70,000 jobs, so now the taxpayers of Saskatchewan will be reduced by 25 percent. Eventually, these people will move west to Alberta and your provincial tax will climb by 25 percent.
There are approximately 360 farm auction sales in the prairie provinces this spring. This number does not include the combined sales that most large auction marts have nor the ones that simply drove their machinery in the shed and parked it. … The auctioneers predict that the numbers of auctions in 2007 will be three to four times higher.
The figures are out that show farmers, especially in this province, have lost record amounts of money in the last three years. Where will this end?
The cattle industry has been in the faces of federal and provincial politicians to protect their industry. Ontario farmers have protested in their province, to protect the support program there. Quebec still has not lost their very high paying program. Alberta’s Wild Rose farm group has been calling for $50 per acre for this spring to get Alberta farmers to grow a crop.
What, may I ask, are Saskatchewan farmers doing? Wake up, you have a new government in Ottawa and you are staying quiet. The squeaky wheel gets the grease and if you do not believe this, go to Ottawa and learn….If you say something has to be done and you are prepared to go to the wall for your industry, good….
– Bob Thomas,
Milestone, Sask.
