Buy-out plan for producers

[cakadu]

Lately, we have been hearing more and more about the behind the scenes movement to establish some sort of program to help those farmers who want to get out of agriculture, but just don't have the means to do so. I have heard about people who don't necessarily have enough equity or live in an area that has had drought for the last 2 or 3 years. How do you sell, when you are in a drought?

This is most definitely a social issue and is really no different than what the government did for the fishing industry on the east coast. I really think that there is merit in this type of policy for several reasons:

1. It will help those who maintain the status quo to move on to something else and perhaps give room to innovation and a shift in the paradigm of production.

2. It will give some sense of control to those who want to leave instead of looking at bankruptcy or insolvency.

3. Producers will feel that they haven't been forgotten and at the same time the government won't have to feel that they are abandoning the grassroots of agriculture, which is why they were formed.

I think that there is merit in looking at this seriously and we could draw from the fisheries and mining experiences. It might be hard to have farmers move into another area for work, but those are things that could be dealt with. It bears a much more serious look.

Linda

[cowman]

Linda,
I think that's a great idea and I'm ready to sign up! I'm sick of getting screwed by oil companys, banks, fertilizer dealers, machinery dealers etc. etc. Let somebody else go out in the cold to feed cows, let someone else watch the hay get rained on, let someone else pull that wild cows' calf in a blizzard etc. etc. If I have a choice of a transition job I'll opt for one with the government...maybe Ag-Canada or the CWB so I can tell those dumb farmers what they are doing wrong. I don't think they would resent the fact I'd not been able to cut it! After all didn't our great minister of Agriculture go belly up too?