boone: Yes, I also believe the Alberta Ag minister is solidly behind the cattleman. Things are better here, comparatively speaking, than in Saskatchewan. Having a few billion in the bank sure helps to be popular. Steven Blank points out that farm labour is leaving the farm to move higher up the "Economic Food Chain". I have never thought of farming as a job though, maybe more of a career in farm management or an opportunity as an ag investment manager with a significant outdoor component.
pandiana: The silence surrounding BSE is deafening, isn’t it. It is 134 days since the BSE outbreak and there is still no plan in place for slaughter cows. It seems to me that the federal government is pretty much in limbo until the change in leadership is complete. Actually since Martin stepped down as finance minister the finance department has not been able to make many bold moves either. This will be corrected in the short term but too bad for us BSE had to happen during a change in leadership.
GDP grew by 0.6% in July in the middle of the BSE crisis. See: http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/09/30/gdp_030930 This CBC story mentions SARS, the blackout, forest fires, the strong dollar, mining and real estate, however the beef industry or the agriculture industry did not warrant a mention. Maybe we aren’t as important as we think.
Blank points out that farm incomes after government support have dropped. But is the problem farming or the increasing role of government support in agriculture. The chicken or the egg. Government support, largely led by the United States and the EU in order to give their respective ag and agri-business industries a competitive advantage in the world have taken over a greater percentage of net farm incomes. This government support just breeds more government support as production adjusts to the economic stimulus. Eventually producers in countries without this support adjust to become more efficient with a lower cost base and continue the pressure to sell their produce into those markets with the money to purchase their goods. The U.S. and the EU are going nned to, at some point, find some other way to support their agriculture or else their industries really might collapse under the weight of the government safety net.
pandiana: The silence surrounding BSE is deafening, isn’t it. It is 134 days since the BSE outbreak and there is still no plan in place for slaughter cows. It seems to me that the federal government is pretty much in limbo until the change in leadership is complete. Actually since Martin stepped down as finance minister the finance department has not been able to make many bold moves either. This will be corrected in the short term but too bad for us BSE had to happen during a change in leadership.
GDP grew by 0.6% in July in the middle of the BSE crisis. See: http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/09/30/gdp_030930 This CBC story mentions SARS, the blackout, forest fires, the strong dollar, mining and real estate, however the beef industry or the agriculture industry did not warrant a mention. Maybe we aren’t as important as we think.
Blank points out that farm incomes after government support have dropped. But is the problem farming or the increasing role of government support in agriculture. The chicken or the egg. Government support, largely led by the United States and the EU in order to give their respective ag and agri-business industries a competitive advantage in the world have taken over a greater percentage of net farm incomes. This government support just breeds more government support as production adjusts to the economic stimulus. Eventually producers in countries without this support adjust to become more efficient with a lower cost base and continue the pressure to sell their produce into those markets with the money to purchase their goods. The U.S. and the EU are going nned to, at some point, find some other way to support their agriculture or else their industries really might collapse under the weight of the government safety net.
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