The percentage of farm income that comes from public transfers within Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development countries has declined to 18.2 from 37.6 over the past 25 years.
Thirty-nine percent of Canadian farm income came from one form of farm support or another in 1989.
By last year it had dropped to 12 percent.
The United States fell to less than eight, and Australia hovers around two percent. Canada is about equal with Mexico, while European Union farms see about 20 percent of income coming from public transfers. All fell over the past 25 years.
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The OECD defines agricultural support as the gross transfers to agriculture from consumers and taxpayers arising from government policies that support agriculture, regardless of the objectives and economic impacts.
The total support given to agriculture as a percentage of gross domestic product is about the same for Canada and the U.S.: half of one percent.
Agriculture forms 1.9 percent of the gross domestic product in Canada and just 1.2 percent in the U.S. Australian agriculture hands in 2.4 percent of its GDP.
Total employment in the sector represents 2.8 percent of jobs in Australia, 2.4 in the U.S. and just two percent in Canada.
However, there are apples and oranges at work in some of these statistics, such as the U.S. spending much more than Canada or Australia on agricultural research and extension and on inspection of food products. No country is culturally, economically, politically or geographically the same.
Higher producer support estimates, which is what the OECD calls them, usually mean tougher negotiations when it comes to free or reduced-restriction trade deals. And Canada’s numbers are higher than some.
Most Canadian farmers probably are asking why they don’t see much of their income coming from government when our numbers are so high.
It’s supply management that throws off the averages. Not that those producers get much money from government either —they don’t.
The OECD estimates the difference between the world price for dairy products, poultry and eggs and Canadian prices and applies this as a subsidy. Remove that estimate and Canada looks a lot like Australia and well below the U.S. when it comes to farm support.
Personally, I have always thought of Canada as an above average nation anyway.
