The future

[rsomer]

grassfarmer: There will be groups and organisations on both sides of the border campainging for their interests. I have just expressed what I see happening as the end result. I do not foresee our Candian feedlots wanting to see Canadian feeders going south when the border opens and they have been very influential up to now. I certainly agree that everyone is playing the protectionist game, Canada included, and that the border will open in stages.

[rsomer]

cowman: Amendment 3 would change CAIS to allow an individual cap of $3million. I believe only three of the necessary seven provinces have signed on to Amendment 3 which would require 2/3 of provinces to agree with 50 percent of production represented so it is not a done deal yet. Alberta signed on in January.
Raising the spending limits to $3million will result in increased growth and expansion of large mega operations such as the very large feedlots and hog barns. I do not see raising the spending cap as being friendly to the average sized farm. I know our local Hutterites have started buying land again.
I personally hope the remaining provinces do not sign on. If Amendment 3 is approved it would certainly be a turning point for agriculture in Canada.

[bshaw2]

Increasing the cap to $3M and the resulting expansion of LARGE hog operations, (and feedlots) is part of the reason that has the National Pork Producers of America is up in arms now and calling for countervail duties and tariffs and all that sort of crap. They are claiming too that some of tax exemption on fuels, MACC young farmer rebates, FCC Flexiloans, and other lower than the bank interest rate loans amount to subsidies........ Any comments?

I think that the loan programs were just a good incentive to try and help out young farmers get started, not for big corps to build more hogs barns that we don't need.

[bombay_43]

How many years have we heard that Canada has to cut subsidies to farmers to "compete" with world markets?

Until the EU and USA, terminate their subsidies, there will be no competing!

We in the agriculture sector in Canada, are slowly being choked to death by high input and low produce costs.

We all know the monies that exist for other countries agriculture sectors. Those who say they don't exist, better take a second look. The reason they exist in other countries, is because those countries have determined the importance of "Agriculture"! Even within Canada, we compete unfairly with Quebec producers who are both federally and provincially looked after with their union.

The remainder of our country, has to wake up and smell the coffee, before there is no agriculture left to "subsidize".

[cowman]

How about the best excuse the government has..."We must cut this program because it violates the WTO"! Goodbye CROW! Goodbye GRIP! Goodbye NISA!
Now this is fine because the whole world is doing the same right? NOT!
In 2002 when the drought was really bad in the barley areas and production was way down what happened? Naturally there was a shortage so the barley prices started to rise. In comes the corn! But of course it was not subsidized now was it? How was it possible that US corn was landing in Lethbridge so cheaply? The US farmer was actually getting more from the subsidy than from the actual price of the corn, but it was a sneaky little bit of government tit! And meanwhile the barley farmer, with his half crop, got beat down on the barley price! Did our wonderful government slap on a countervail? Oh no, we couldn't do that! Why it might hurt the feedlots and the packing industry too much! This is fair?
Then our wonderful tory government "encouraged" the straw and grain to come in that was infested with fusarium! After all we couldn't let the cattle industry go down now could we? That they broke every law in the book, by allowing a known pest in didn't seem to matter? Now what happens if this pest gets a good foothold here and destroys our malt market? Who is to blame? This government needs to quit trying to pick winners and losers and stand up for everybody fairly?

[boone]

Cowman: It is my understanding that it was up to a corn growing area like Ontario to proceed with a trade procedure against the U.S. corn and they felt it would be against there best interests. Manitoba had applied for a judgement at one time and it was withdrawn after a short while. Anyway that will be more fodder for anti-easterners in this string.

[cowman]

boone: It may have been up to the corn producers to complain but it should have been up to the barley producers to demand that the province do something! How unfair was this? The grainfarmer had just got hammered by the drought. He needed the extra price to make up for the loss in yield. Simple supply and demand dictated he should get that price...then the province does an end run around him, for feedlot alley!
And when I say the province did the end run I mean the province! They allowed a known pest enter the province and therefore broke their own laws...for what? To keep their buddies in feedlot alley and at Brooks and High River happy? We did not need corn here! Close to 500,000 calves went south anyway why not a few thousand more
The law is the law. You can't toss it out whenever you feel like it! But that is what Klein and his gang did! Not only did he put our whole grain industry at risk but I would suggest he did something much worse? Undermine the whole justice system! When people see the law being broken for a select few they lose respect for the law, and that is something that can have grave consequences?