Brihau - the Europeans haven't gone hungry for a long time - several decades in fact, so that argument simply doesn't wash anymore. Granted, they have had more than their fare share of food scares, but they aren't going hungry. They need to quit producing at 135% and oversupplying.
As far as the dairy goes, cowman, if it were just a little bit that extra that they were getting, one could possibly live with it, but it's more than just a little bit. There is a paper written by Owen Lippert of the Fraser Institute that is entitled "Milk - the Perfect Food - the Perfect Mess". In it he talks about the fact that of the $4 billion in "subsidy" money paid out, 97% of that went to the dairy industry. Now, does that sound like it's just a little bit to you? Yes, they do work very hard and most of us do not want that kind of life, but it is a choice that they make to do it, so like the rest of us, they have to deal with the consequences of their choice and if that means that they are up at 4:00 a.m. milking, then so be it. It's no different than you being out at 1:30 in the morning when it's -30 and snowing and you're checking for calves. Not a fun part of the job, but it's part of it nonetheless.
In some ways I find it a little hard to compare the tractor industry with that of the food industry. Yes, when the demand for tractors goes down, they close plants, lay off people etc. but maintain the price of the tractors. We can live without them, but food we cannot live without. Some of us may be able to go a little longer than some, but we still all need to eat.
My concern with the dairy industry is that they want to keep supply management firmly in place, but now they want to get into the export game. You can't have it both ways. You're either in or you're out.
The other problems with the supply managed sectors is that there is no need to be innovative, it creates artificial barriers to entry because who can afford to capitalize $9 million just to get started, the only ones who are actually doing quite well at dairying are those who got in when quota was free - as you've pointed out everything isn't entirely rosy in the dairy industry - the small family farm that supply management was supposed to save is slowly disappering as well because the big guys are the only ones who can afford to keep buying up quota.
There are those who believe that when push comes to shove at WTO talks, that in order to get something we want, Canada will put supply management on the line. How true that is and when it will occur is anyone's guess.
As far as the dairy goes, cowman, if it were just a little bit that extra that they were getting, one could possibly live with it, but it's more than just a little bit. There is a paper written by Owen Lippert of the Fraser Institute that is entitled "Milk - the Perfect Food - the Perfect Mess". In it he talks about the fact that of the $4 billion in "subsidy" money paid out, 97% of that went to the dairy industry. Now, does that sound like it's just a little bit to you? Yes, they do work very hard and most of us do not want that kind of life, but it is a choice that they make to do it, so like the rest of us, they have to deal with the consequences of their choice and if that means that they are up at 4:00 a.m. milking, then so be it. It's no different than you being out at 1:30 in the morning when it's -30 and snowing and you're checking for calves. Not a fun part of the job, but it's part of it nonetheless.
In some ways I find it a little hard to compare the tractor industry with that of the food industry. Yes, when the demand for tractors goes down, they close plants, lay off people etc. but maintain the price of the tractors. We can live without them, but food we cannot live without. Some of us may be able to go a little longer than some, but we still all need to eat.
My concern with the dairy industry is that they want to keep supply management firmly in place, but now they want to get into the export game. You can't have it both ways. You're either in or you're out.
The other problems with the supply managed sectors is that there is no need to be innovative, it creates artificial barriers to entry because who can afford to capitalize $9 million just to get started, the only ones who are actually doing quite well at dairying are those who got in when quota was free - as you've pointed out everything isn't entirely rosy in the dairy industry - the small family farm that supply management was supposed to save is slowly disappering as well because the big guys are the only ones who can afford to keep buying up quota.
There are those who believe that when push comes to shove at WTO talks, that in order to get something we want, Canada will put supply management on the line. How true that is and when it will occur is anyone's guess.
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