IF NOBLE goals earn politicians a pass toward some sort of political heaven, agriculture minister Andy Mitchell may have secured a pass through purgatory.
The new minister has staked out as one of his goals the cracking of a tough economic nut – declining farm incomes in the midst of a prosperous multi-billion dollar food industry.
In an Oct. 29 speech to a National Press Club breakfast audience, Mitchell identified one of his core principles against which he’ll judge his success as minister.
That principle is an understanding that despite the complexities of the industry and the issues, “when you get right down to it, what I need to make sure happens is that an environment is created that allows producers to earn a living.”
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Challenged on the point and the fact he had included agri-food sectors in the need to be profitable – sectors that have not shown a particular need for ministerial intervention to return a profit to their shareholders – Mitchell referred to the fact that he has asked parliamentary secretary Wayne Easter to look at the issue of the long-term decline of farm incomes in the face of food industry expansion and profitability.
“I think it’s really critical that we take a look at that long-term historic decline in real farm income and try to have an understanding of the things we can do to deal with that,” said the minister.
Mitchell referred to a mid-November conference sponsored by the Canadian Federation of Agriculture on the issue of farm profitability as an important entry point to the debate.
Fast forward three days to the same National Press Club podium and a speech by Dairy Farmers of Canada president Jacques Laforge.
He made several telling points about the issue of farm income as a slice of food industry profits.
Farmers are the only businesspeople who buy inputs at retail prices and sell their production at wholesale prices, said the New Brunswick dairy farmer.
When the farm economy is doing well, farmers are the last to feel the benefit, after input suppliers and buyers.
When the farm economy is hurting, witness the BSE crisis, farmers are the first to take the hit, he said.
To rub in the point about farmer market power, DFC provided a breakdown of the beneficiaries from the Press Club lunch of appetizers, salad, roast beef and dessert.
It would be a $25 restaurant meal, he said. The farmer share would be $1.11.
The remainder would go to processor, wholesaler, restaurant operator, transportation, packaging, tax and tip.
This was a graphic example of the problem Mitchell is vowing to fix.
The farmer share of the food dollar is minuscule.
Government support programs, when they are not going to indirectly support input suppliers or output buyers, merely work to keep farmers in business to supply a cheap raw product to a profitable industrial system.
Solving this sounds like a tall order for a new agriculture minister in what likely will be a short-lived minority government.
Warning sign ahead: there is a special room in purgatory, and in the ballot box, for politicians who promise more than they can possibly deliver.
Still, it’s nice to hear a noble goal articulated that rises above making do.
