I saw your comment in another thread and thought I'd share my thoughts that I put in a letter to the MB Co-operator.
To give you context the article I'm responding to was posted on a variety of news outlets including here at the Globe and Mail:
[URL="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rob-commentary/for-supply-managed-canada-reaching-ceta-is-the-easy-part/article32543875/"]http://http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rob-commentary/for-supply-managed-canada-reaching-ceta-is-the-easy-part/article32543875/[/URL]
My letter:
I’m responding to the article “Ratifying CETA was the easy part†by Sylvain Charlebois in the November 3rd edition of the Manitoba Co-operator. I’m unclear of the purpose of the article other than to encourage the destruction of the Supply Management (SM) system in dairy and the livelihoods of dairy farmers. When a Canadian welcomes the fact that CETA “creates a significant breach in the quota system†and that this change in turn will “destabilize Canada’s entire agricultural system†it raises the question of where the person’s loyalties lie.
Generally when critics attack SM in the dairy sector they claim that the domestic consumer deserves to benefit from cheaper milk or cheese but that point was never made in this article. It’s interesting too that after saying that Canada’s SM sectors (plural) needed a wake up call the rest of the article talks only about the destruction of one sector - dairy. I always find it interesting that critics of SM in dairy don’t talk about SM of chicken. Perhaps because the very low cost of chicken at the retail counter belies their argument that SM always leads to more expensive food for consumers?
The article forwards no valid arguments that Canada’s agriculture will benefit from CETA despite the damage to SM dairy. Mentioning that the EU is “desperate to find new markets for their food products†hints that we are likely to be importing, rather than exporting, more agricultural products. The claim that Canada’s cattle industry is desperate to reach new markets isn’t borne out by the facts as we already have thousands of tonnes of tariff free beef quota access to the EU going unfilled. The EU already produces more pork than it can consume. Grain and oilseeds exports don’t get a mention.
The writer seems to have a fixation on “competitiveness†as if that is a goal in itself. What he is really advocating is dairy farmers getting less for their milk thus reducing their profitability and transferring this wealth instead to the processors or retailers.
The disastrous collapse in global milk prices over the last year has proven that economy of scale, often touted as the way to increase competitiveness, is a flawed model in dairy. Farmers with thousand cow herds have been forced out of business in New Zealand, the USA and in Europe. In comparison, Canadian dairy farmers have continued to enjoy reduced, but still profitable prices.
Why would any Canadian, and particularly fellow farmers, want to see the profitability of dairy farming reduced to the point that they need an off-farm job to support their farming business like so many in the beef and grain sectors do? It makes no sense especially when you consider there are unlikely to be gains for other sectors of Canadian agriculture and consumers are unlikely to see a reduction in the retail price of dairy products.
To give you context the article I'm responding to was posted on a variety of news outlets including here at the Globe and Mail:
[URL="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rob-commentary/for-supply-managed-canada-reaching-ceta-is-the-easy-part/article32543875/"]http://http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rob-commentary/for-supply-managed-canada-reaching-ceta-is-the-easy-part/article32543875/[/URL]
My letter:
I’m responding to the article “Ratifying CETA was the easy part†by Sylvain Charlebois in the November 3rd edition of the Manitoba Co-operator. I’m unclear of the purpose of the article other than to encourage the destruction of the Supply Management (SM) system in dairy and the livelihoods of dairy farmers. When a Canadian welcomes the fact that CETA “creates a significant breach in the quota system†and that this change in turn will “destabilize Canada’s entire agricultural system†it raises the question of where the person’s loyalties lie.
Generally when critics attack SM in the dairy sector they claim that the domestic consumer deserves to benefit from cheaper milk or cheese but that point was never made in this article. It’s interesting too that after saying that Canada’s SM sectors (plural) needed a wake up call the rest of the article talks only about the destruction of one sector - dairy. I always find it interesting that critics of SM in dairy don’t talk about SM of chicken. Perhaps because the very low cost of chicken at the retail counter belies their argument that SM always leads to more expensive food for consumers?
The article forwards no valid arguments that Canada’s agriculture will benefit from CETA despite the damage to SM dairy. Mentioning that the EU is “desperate to find new markets for their food products†hints that we are likely to be importing, rather than exporting, more agricultural products. The claim that Canada’s cattle industry is desperate to reach new markets isn’t borne out by the facts as we already have thousands of tonnes of tariff free beef quota access to the EU going unfilled. The EU already produces more pork than it can consume. Grain and oilseeds exports don’t get a mention.
The writer seems to have a fixation on “competitiveness†as if that is a goal in itself. What he is really advocating is dairy farmers getting less for their milk thus reducing their profitability and transferring this wealth instead to the processors or retailers.
The disastrous collapse in global milk prices over the last year has proven that economy of scale, often touted as the way to increase competitiveness, is a flawed model in dairy. Farmers with thousand cow herds have been forced out of business in New Zealand, the USA and in Europe. In comparison, Canadian dairy farmers have continued to enjoy reduced, but still profitable prices.
Why would any Canadian, and particularly fellow farmers, want to see the profitability of dairy farming reduced to the point that they need an off-farm job to support their farming business like so many in the beef and grain sectors do? It makes no sense especially when you consider there are unlikely to be gains for other sectors of Canadian agriculture and consumers are unlikely to see a reduction in the retail price of dairy products.
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