bio deisel, ethanol etc.?

[skhadenuf]

First of all the American debt is in no way caused mainly by the subsidies they provide to Agriculture. That portion is only a relatively small part compared the wars etc they are engaged in. Also they know from history that a nation that cannot feed itself is one that is unstable

Second, the bottom line is that we the farmers of this country have actually subsidized the rest of this country for too long. The reason Canada is considered to be a modern nation with
good standard of living is because we the farmers are producing cheap primary product while large secondary corporations take advantage to make their profits, and consumers here are spending so little of their money percentage wise towards food relative to recreation etc.
When you say we cannot afford the taxes here to support agriculture I say you cannot afford not to. The day is coming that when we as producers will either wise up and cut back production not just here in Canada, or we develop bio fuels etc to the point that less of our product is out there for food consumption, people not only of this country but the world will know it would have been much cheaper to spend a little to keep farmers producing just food.

[cakadu]

There will eventually come a day when there will be food grade varieties of things like canola and then there will be varieties that will be solely for biofuels. They are not so far off in terms of availability.

It is also my understanding that biofuels and/or biolubricants can utilize the greener canola seeds, in fact, the greener the better. It will be another option for crops that don't quite make the grade for other things.

There is opportunity for several income streams from biolubricants and those will be of benefit as well.

[SASKFARMER3]

Cockadoodle do yes I am in favor of Bio Diesel etc. to get rural Canada going but after years of neglect we don't have disposable income to build these plants.
Look at latest from states One farmers is building 10 - 50,000,000.00 dollar plants with his money and oh yea some investors.
Who in Canada has that kind of disposable income and farms, The answer is no one. And why because for the last 13 years we were left to fend for our selves by our federal governments and now were loosing farmers every day because of it.
God I hope these plants get built but if its not farmer controlled it will fail like every thing else.
The USA has it right! start at the farm helping and then dish the wealth out after them.
In Canada its start at the Government jobs and work down to the farmer.

[cowman]

I think you have hit the nail on the head there Sask farmer! Its all about keeping the "boys" happy and prospering! Why you can't wipe your nose up here without having a government committee to study the effects and proper way of doing it!

[wilagro]

Bio-fuels will be produced if and when they become PROFITABLE. This is not to say "profitable for the primary producer".

Big business will determine the need for bio-fuels unless the primary producers jump the gun and initiate the process.

Not too likely IMHO considering the current state of agriculture. I could be wrong. It would be nice to be proven wrong in this regard...

[daretodiffer]

These threads sure generate a lot of hooey that could be better spent on making electricity. What's with this 13 years of misery nonsense? A prosperous economy, a country rated the best in the world, billions poured into agriculture, land asset values increasing better than the stock market, with results like that the "we don't gets nuttin" crowd look pretty silly. Do you ever honestly listen to yourself? But then the lifestyle farmers aren't much interested in business management anyway it seems.
Anytime I see the harumph that the "bureacracy" takes up the majority of the funding of the farm subsidy programs, I realize we are hearing from the ignorant who will throw any figures and information around to suit their whine and wouldn't see the reality of facts if they fell over it.

[wilagro]

daretodiffer: AND do you derive most of your income from farming as a primary producer?

If not, then you have formed your opinions from what you have read in the newspapers or saw on TV, or most likely from driving by on the highway.

The farmers across the prairies and the east as well ARE involved in a farm crisis whether you believe it or not.

Land values don't mean much when faced with negative margins from farm operations.

[wilagro]

daretodiffer, farming IS a business and anyone trying to eke out a living on the farm does run it as a business.

Unfortumately I have heard comments similar to yours from some very uninformed individuals who just don't 'get it'.

For the most part it is not a lack of business sense that is causing farm crisis, but commodity prices and certainly BSE have taken a huge toll on the agriculture industry.In put costs are through the roof and with ever increasing fuel prices it is understandable that farmers are in a real mess this spring.

[skhadenuf]

Daretodiffer, your opinion shows the ignorance we are up against. Sounds like your obviously working off the liberal payroll. What is your occupation?

[cowman]

daretodiffer: You are right that we have a booming economy, land prices rising(in a few places), and billions poured into agriculture.
Now in this "booming economy" why is it that grain prices, oilseeds, livestock haven't boomed? The fact is: adjusted for inflation, prices are less than the dirty thirties when massive numbers of farmers left the land.
Rising land prices are just peachy if you are selling, not so good if you are buying/renting? In many parts of the west land prices are actually decreasing significantly?
Billions poured into agriculture: Yep without a doubt. Why it has made Monsanto, Dow, Cargill, ADM very rich! Of course the "billions" are a pittance compared to what our fellow farmers get in the US and Europe...the guys we have to compete with for sales and inputs, but yes still "billions"! Maybe you have a valid point. Maybe this country should just shut off the subsidy tap and we can buy whatever we desire from those other countries? Probably makes more economic sense?
The only problem is what do we do with all these darned peasants? Why they might flood into town and take away all the good jobs, or at least lower the cost of labor? Why with a little luck we could drive down wages to the status of a third world country! Then we could all share the misery together?