Critics of the recent cuts in wheat board initial payments do have grounds for concern. Something is indeed rotten in the grain marketing and distribution system. But it goes far beyond Canada’s borders.
At times, it seems Prairie farmers are being told they’re producing a commodity that isn’t really wanted.
Grain prices often (not always) cover production costs, but rarely yield anything approaching a decent return on the investment, expertise and labor involved in a family farm.
Not only does the marketplace seem to put a low value on grain, but the system can be slow, almost reluctant, to take it.
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Partly because of transportation problems, farmers in many places have waited long periods for delivery opportunities. They have had to keep grain sitting on their farms, watching in frustration as one crop year ended and a new one arrived with lower prices.
To add insult to injury, some have to contemplate the expense of buying aditional bins, so that they can store this year’s harvest as well as part of the last.
If they were producing obsolete buggywhips, this situation would be regrettable but understandable.
What is outrageous is that they are producing wholesome food in a world where people are starving. There is real and urgent demand for grain.
One report last week was that 60,000 North Korean children aged five or less may die because of that country’s under-reported famine.
World food-aid officials have reported thin, weak children in nurseries and orphanages suffering from acute malnutrition. “They are literally wasting away,” one official said.
It would be criminal for the global community to allow such a situation to continue. Some aid has been announced, but shipments have been inadequate and too slow.
Developed nations must make it a higher priority to create continuing programs that will ensure adequate nourishment for all parts of the world.
“Market forces” are very efficient in matching consumer money with manufacturers’ products or producers’ commodities. But they do nothing to bring food to those who, individually or collectively, don’t have the money.
This is where governments need to intervene on humanitarian grounds, and implement people’s duty to help neighbors in trouble.
If governments did that effectively and food reached all those in need, then it would quickly become clear that farmers are not producing an excess of a cheap, unwanted product.
That would alleviate the problem of low grain prices. More important, it would save human lives.
